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Jan Paul van Hecke of the Netherlands during the Netherlands vs. Japan match at the 2026 World Cup at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, United States, on June 14, 2026. (Photo by Stefan Koops/EYE4IMAGES/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Well! We have some transfer news to report. According to The Athetic’s David Ornstein, Tottenham Hotspur have reached a £52m agreement with Brighton & Hove Albion for Dutch central defender Jan Paul Van Hecke.
Van Hecke was one of De Zerbi’s priority signings, and it feels rare to me that we’d get a deal done for a player currently playing in a World Cup, but hey — I guess if there’s a will there’s a way. £52m for Van Hecke feels like a lot of money for a guy with one year left on his contract, has rejected an opportunity to extend, and is heading to a team that still has Cuti Romero and Luka Vuskovic on their books, but he’s a solid player and a ball-playing central defender, so who knows. I would’ve thought Spurs could finagle a bigger discount due to the contract issue, but maybe the heart wants what the heart wants?
The bit about Vuskovich is equally interesting. Spurs reportedly insta-rejected Brighton’s first bid, and the slightly improved £35m bid for him was also correctly rejected according to the Ornacle. I still don’t really understand what Spurs want to do with Vuskovic, but it’s at least heartening that “sell him to Brighton for cheap” isn’t one of the agenda items.
Van Hecke is a good defender and I think he’ll improve the back line, but the back line still feels like a work in progress and I don’t have a clear sense yet of what Spurs actually want to do. I suppose all will become clear, but also I have trusted in the process the past couple of seasons and been thoroughly let down, so I’m trying to tamp down my pessimism that everything will turn out okay. Maybe it will! Buuuuuuuuut…
Anyway, this is a pretty okay deal for a good player, and we’ll have to wait to see how everything else shakes out in the wash. The context here matters a lot, but I can’t be mad at Spurs signing a good player — Van Hecke definitely is that.
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