Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has revealed that he is targeting winning trophies after completing a move to Benfica.
The Belgian was unveiled to the Portuguese press on Friday evening after signing a three-year deal with the Liga Nos giants (Benfica official).
The 33-year-old left Tottenham last month ending his eight-year association with the North Londoners having joined from Ajax in 2012.
Despite having played over 300 matches for Spurs, he departed empty handed where honours are concerned having been part of the teams that lost the League Cup final to Chelsea in 2015 and the Champions League final to Liverpool in 2019 (transfermarkt).
Benfica came up short in the Portuguese top flight last season, having finished second behind rivals Porto and will enter the Champions League at the third qualifying round stage in the next campaign.
Vertonghen admitted that one of the lures of Benfica was his ambition to win silverware on both a domestic and European front.
He told the Benfica official website when asked about his move: “I like stability and continuity. That’s what Benfica offered me, and it was very important to my choice. I felt they believed in me a lot, that was the most important thing.
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“I hope to correspond, playing well, and winning trophies. Ajax and Tottenham are clubs of the people, and Benfica is a club of the people. It has national and European ambitions. That was important to me because I want to win national and European trophies. Benfica has the same ambition as me.
“I came to Benfica to win trophies and help the Club achieve its goals. Being National Champion is undoubtedly one of the goals I want to achieve here.
“I knew the history and the ambition to achieve titles. The European ambition is enormous and I want to contribute to that. Before being contacted by the club, I already knew many things.”
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