Dutch Jan Paul van Hecke has an upright running style that is reminiscent of the Norwegian national team manager Ståle Solbakken from the time he himself played football.
The 26-year-old was in the first eleven for the Netherlands in their opening match of the World Cup against Japan and scored 7.5. – On our live service you can check out all the statistics from the match. Tottenham, who by a cry of distress saved their place in the Premier League in the last round, see captain Cristian Romero as a burden. Romero, who has been plagued by injuries and a lack of loyalty to Tottenham, is 99.9% certain to leave North London this summer.
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The work on a replacement has been going on for a while and after several rounds with Brighton, they have agreed to bring in centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke.
The Atheltic reports that the parties are in agreement on a transfer worth £52 million. The 26-year-old has only one year left on his contract at Amex, and the Seagulls have chosen to sell now rather than risk losing him for free next summer.
If the transfer goes through, Van Hecke will reunite with Spurs’ former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi.
The deal is said to have no connection with Brighton’s pursuit of Tottenham centre-back Luka Vuskovic. The south coast club had a £30 million bid rejected for the 19-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Bundesliga club Hamburg.
Van Hecke, who is currently with the Netherlands’ squad at the World Cup, has made 131 appearances for Brighton since arriving from NAC Breda in 2020, establishing himself as one of the better centre-backs in the Premier League.
Spurs finished 17th in the top flight last season (just like the year before), but have already made moves to strengthen their defence by bringing in Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson on free transfers.
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