Tottenham Hotspur are one of several Premier League clubs eyeing a deal for a Netherlands international centre-back, who has come on leaps and bounds over the past two seasons.
While Tottenham Hotspur were very active in the summer transfer window, the club barely strengthened their backline, with Kota Takai being the only defender to arrive through the door.
There have already been suggestions that a top-class centre-back would be one of Spurs’ top priorities in January as Thomas Frank aims to put the finishing touches on his squad.
It appears that one player is now quickly moving to the top of the Lilywhites’ wishlist.
Tottenham hold a serious interest in Brighton centre-back
It emerged last week that Tottenham are exploring a move for Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke, who is valued at £44m by the South Coast club.
This has now been backed up by journalist Ahad Shaukat via the Daily Briefing (as relayed by GiveMeSport), who says that Spurs hold ‘serious interest’ in Van Hecke.
However, he warns that the 25-year-old is also on the radars of multiple other Premier League clubs as he has less than two years left on his contract at the Amex Stadium.
The journalist adds that the Dutchman is seen as someone who can be a part of Tottenham’s backline for many years to come, with the North Londoners potentially looking at completing a deal in 2026.
Jan Paul van Hecke is keeping Micky van de Ven out of the Netherlands side
It is clear that Van Hecke is very highly rated by the Netherlands set-up as he started in their 3-2 win over Lithuania on Sunday, while Tottenham’s star centre-back Micky van de Ven was benched.
Even leaving aside the fact that Van de Ven is primarily used as a left-back by Ronald Koeman, the fact that the Brighton man is starting for a nation who have no shortage of top-class central defenders is further evidence of his quality.
While Tottenham are not short of centre-backs in its squad, the injury record of Van de Ven and Cristian Romero will be a cause for concern for Thomas Frank, which might be why he wants to add more quality options at the back.