Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
New Tottenham recruit Jan Paul van Hecke hopes to form a long-running centre-back partnership with Micky van de Ven, who is reportedly set to sign a new contract with the club.
Van Hecke was reunited with his former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi after completing a £52m switch to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June.
And, with club captain Cristian Romero still expected to depart after months of speculation, Van Hecke will likely start alongside another familiar face in the heart of their defence.
Van Hecke started all four of the Netherlands’ games at this summer’s World Cup, with Van de Ven also named in their line-up for three of those matches, albeit the latter often played as a left-back to accommodate captain Virgil van Dijk.
Van de Ven had also been linked with an exit, but reports now suggest he is close to signing a new five-year contract with Spurs following talks with De Zerbi.
And Van Hecke would welcome a long-term renewal for his compatriot.
“I’m really good friends with Micky. Even before the transfer was made, we always spoke about football and the club,” he said, as quoted by The Athletic.
“He already told me that it’s an amazing club. When I came here, I could see straight away from the first day that this is a really big club, and I can’t wait to start in the Premier League.
“It’s what we did in the Netherlands under-21s – already, years ago, we played together as a couple.
“Now I hope to play many games with him, and hopefully it can be a really good partnership.”
Spurs recently returned from a tour of New Zealand and Australia, where they beat Aukland FC 2-0 and Chelsea 2-1 either side of a 1-1 draw with Sydney FC.
Keeping up the hard work pic.twitter.com/twPJg6B2V0
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 6, 2026
They have two more pre-season friendlies to play, against Getafe and Hoffenheim, before visiting Brentford for their Premier League opener on August 22.
Hopes are high that De Zerbi’s first full season in charge will bring a return to form for Spurs, following back-to-back 17th-place finishes in the last two campaigns.
Van Hecke played 35 Premier League games under De Zerbi for Brighton between 2022 and 2024, and he expects the Italian’s style to translate perfectly to his new club.
“It’s attacking-style football. We’ll try to dominate teams, play out from the back, and score a lot of goals,” Van Hecke said.
“I think you saw from his former teams that they scored a lot of goals. I think it’s exciting to watch.
“Of course, there’s a lot of work to do, because to play that kind of football you need a lot of work on the training pitch. That’s what we’re doing now. I think so far, so good.
“Obviously we’ve improved, but we have a really strong team and a really good manager. I think that could be a really good combination this season.”
In 70 Premier League games under De Zerbi, Brighton scored 116 goals and conceded 110 (226 total), with those matches featuring an average of 3.22 goals.
Among all managers to lead a club for at least 50 games in Premier League history, only four have had a higher total goals-per-game average (for and against).
They are Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham (3.47), Gary O’Neil at Wolves (3.31), and both Manuel Pellegrini (3.26) and Pep Guardiola (3.24) at Manchester City.
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