Tottenham Hotspur’s new signing Jan Paul van Hecke has offered an insight into what life could look like under Roberto De Zerbi.
Tottenham Hotspur have been one of the busier sides in the summer transfer window so far after completing six purchases and managing seven departures.
A whopping £237 million has been spent on three recruits, with all the money so far going towards the purchases of Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, while Robertson, Dubravka and Senesi all joined on a free.
It is no surprise to see Tottenham splash the cash given the poor run they have managed in the last two Premier League seasons, where they finished 17th.
Tottenham’s Jan Paul van Hecke reveals Roberto De Zerbi pull
One of the first players to have come through the door this summer was van Hecke. The Dutch centre‑back has a notably close relationship with head coach Roberto De Zerbi, having previously worked with him during their time together at Brighton.
Having now sealed his move to Tottenham, the 26-year-old has now opened up on what helped convince him to make the move, speaking to football.london.
Van Hecke admitted that De Zerbi was an obvious pull to join Spurs this summer, but that the club itself was also a huge draw.
Explaining what ultimately convinced him, he said: “Of course [he is there], but also Tottenham is such a big club, so if Tottenham comes, and then you speak with the manager, speak with the club, you get a really good feeling from everybody and also the people inside the club,
“Also the project that’s coming up, then we got really excited. That really got me over the line. And of course the manager, I’m really good with him, we can’t ignore that, but I thought it was a good combination.”
Spurs fans get insight into De Zerbi football
The centre-back also opened up on what Tottenham supporters can expect from De Zerbi‘s style of football, having experienced a light version of it during the final weeks of last season.
“It’s attacking-style football,” explained Van Hecke. “Try to dominate teams, play out from the back and try to score a lot of goals. You saw in his teams that they scored a lot of goals.
“It’s exciting to watch. There’s a lot to do because to play that kind of football you need a lot of work on the training pitch. That’s what we’re doing now.
“So far so good. Obviously we’ve improved and we have a really strong team and a really good manager. That could be a really good combination this season.”
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