The transfer window has only been open for a couple of days, but Tottenham Hotspur have just landed their third signing of the summer. Dutch international footballer Jan Paul van Hecke is joining Spurs from Brighton & Hove Albion. The transfer fee was not reported in the official tweet, but previous reporting suggested the fee is in the realm of £52m.
Van Hecke is an experienced player,
a full Dutch international (currently at the World Cup with the Netherlands), and an accomplished ball-playing defender. He previously played for Roberto De Zerbi when De Zerbi managed Brighton, so the two know each other well. He adds another ball playing dimension and some solid defense to a Spurs back line that gave up a lot of goals under multiple managers the past few years.
The fee is a LOT for a player with one year left on his contract, and there are reports that one D. Levy thinks we got the short end on this deal. But I suppose sometimes you need to overpay to get the player that you want, and clearly De Zerbi and Spurs wanted Van Hecke.
He joins a central defense that is stocked at present with Cuti Romero, his international teammate Micky van de Ven, Marcos Senesi, Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, and Luka Vuskovic. I’d expect at least two departures from this group before all’s said and done, but that’ll come in the future.
For now, feel free to GIF party in the comments because we have a new signing!
