Tottenham Hotspur had to invest in a left-sided centre back last summer and appear to have struck gold with Micky van de Ven.
Left-footed centre backs have become immensely popular in the modern game.
Managers didn’t really seem to care all that much if their two centre backs were both right-footed but those days appear to be gone.
Almost every Premier League club has a left-footed centre back now; Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake, Gabriel Magalhaes, Lisandro Martinez, Pau Torres, Sven Botman, Levi Colwill… the list just goes on and on.
Tottenham have been seeking a left-footed centre back signing for a while now and the 2022 arrival of Clement Lenglet didn’t solve the problem.
Spurs simply had to invest in a long-term solution in that role and after links to the likes of Gvardiol, Torres and even Alessandro Bastoni, Tottenham found their man.
Liverpool star hails Tottenham Hotspur’s Micky van de Ven
Tottenham decided to invest in Micky van de Ven, landing the Dutchman from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
Spurs agreed to pay up to £43million for Van de Ven, which may have raised some eyebrows.
Van de Ven showed potential in the Bundesliga but wasn’t considered to be in the upper tier of Bundesliga centre backs when Tottenham signed him.
Spurs invested in potential though – and right now, that decision looks to be an incredible one.
Van de Ven was outstanding in the Premier League last season and established himself as a centre back few strikers want to face moving forward.
That hasn’t resulted in starts at Euro 2024 though with Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman mostly using him as a substitute.
Van de Ven could feature against England on Wednesday night though and has already made it clear that he thinks he can handle Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka if called upon.
Dutch teammate and Liverpool star Cody Gakpo has now delivered his verdict ahead of Wednesday’s Euro 2024 semi-final clash.
Speaking to Algemeen Dagblad, Gakpo noted that Van de Ven is the fastest defender in the Premier League and ‘difficult’ to play against.
Gakpo hailed the pace and power Van de Ven possesses and believes that he is ‘doing well’ after his Premier League move.
“Micky is the fastest in the Premier League in that respect. He is difficult to play against. You come up against him again and again. Strong, fast. Defensively good. He is doing well again now,” said Gakpo.
Van de Ven praised Gakpo so the Liverpool man has certainly returned the favour.
The pair are set to thrive for the Netherlands for years to come and we should see plenty of them in the Premier League moving forward.
Gakpo and Van de Ven could have even been teammates at Liverpool.
Reports suggest that Van de Ven snubbed a move to Anfield last summer due to not being promised a key role in the first team.
Spurs were able to offer Van de Ven exactly what he wanted and Liverpool’s loss is certainly Tottenham’s gain.
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