Tottenham Hotspur secured the services of Jan Vertonghen from Ajax Amsterdam in the summer of 2012 in what has proven to be one of the shrewdest pieces of the business the club has done.
The Belgian was 25 when he made the move to North London from the Dutch giants for just £9.5m while Andre Villas-Boast was in charge at White Hart Lane (Guardian).
He was recruited to help fill the void left by the legendary Ledley King who was forced to hang up his boots at 31 due to a chronic knee problem which limited his ability to train and play on a regular basis (Guardian).
Vertonghen proved his quality by comfortably slotting into the Spurs starting eleven with ease and has been a mainstay in the heart of the back four up until this season.
His impressive form early on in his career at Tottenham saw him linked with a move to Catalan giants Barcelona only for a move to fail to materialise (Independent).
Vertonghen’s former team-mate at Ajax André Ooijer has claimed that the Spurs man should have played at a higher level and believes he had the quality to be a success at the Camp Nou.
“In my view, Jan should have gone higher,” Ooijer told Algemeen Dagblad.
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“I don’t think he would have been out of place at FC Barcelona. If he got mad, you really wouldn’t get past him.
“He was very strong, but also good on the ball. When we played together at Ajax, I really thought he was unparalleled.”
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