Former Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder admits the Eredivisie giants looked at Micky van de Ven before the Dutchman made a £34 million move to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur.
While the results – not to mention the performances – have taken a bit of a turn for the worse of late, Tottenham Hotspur can still look back on their recent activity in the transfer market with a great deal of satisfaction.
Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie have proven to be genuine bargains at less than £40 million combined. Brennan Johnson has added speed and depth to Ange Postecoglou’s frontline. And, in Micky van de Ven, Spurs have finally filled a Jan Vertonghen-shaped void with one of the finest – and fastest – left-sided centre-halves in European football.
Micky van de Ven stands out at Tottenham Hotspur
Eyebrows were raised when the London giants stumped up £34 million to bring the little-known powerhouse to England from Wolfsburg. But Van de Ven, officially the quickest Premier League player since records began, has been worth every single penny and then some.
Former Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder, meanwhile, informs Voetbal International that he looked at Van de Ven too. But the former FC Volendam defender was simply ‘too expensive’, even 12 months before his eventual mega-money departure from the Volkswagen Arena.
“Other options were not available to us at the time,” says Schreuder, who replaced Erik ten Hag at the Johan Cruyff Arena but lastest only halfway through the 2022/23 season.
For example, we were interested in Micky van de Ven. But he turned out to be too expensive.”
Ajax’s loss is Spurs’ gain
Van de Ven, who has been labelled an ‘exceptional’ talent by the legendary former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, recently returned to the Tottenham XI after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
It’s telling that Spurs have lost only two out of 16 league games with Van de Ven and four out of nine without him.
HITC Football, meanwhile, understands Spurs could target another Serie A talent in Fiorentina’s Michael Kayode.
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