‘Helped me a lot’: Micky Van de Ven says he’s been studying defender Tottenham signed for £10m

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Micky Van de Ven has taken to life at Tottenham like a duck to water.

The Dutch defender has been absolutely brilliant since joining the north London club this summer, and we can’t help but wonder how he has adapted so quickly.

According to the player himself, speaking to the Premier League’s YouTube channel, he has actually taken a lot of inspiration from Jan Vertonghen.

The Belgian was, of course, a legend at Tottenham after arriving for £10m from Ajax, and Van de Ven says he has been watching videos of Vertonghen to help him develop as a defender.

Van de Ven studying Vertonghen

The Tottenham defender spoke about how Vertonghen has influenced him.

“Was Jan Vertonghen an inspiration to you growing up?” Van de Ven was asked.

“I was always in the stadium with my Dad when Ajax were playing. We went to every game and Jan was always playing. He was a left-footed centre-back. I’m a left-footed centre-back. I always looked up to him and saw his qualities on the pitch. Afterwards I watched some videos of him and that helped me a lot,” Van de Ven said.

Great role model

It’s fantastic to hear that Van de Ven has been trying to learn from Vertonghen, as, in all honesty, there aren’t many better role models at Tottenham.

The Belgian is, arguably, the best defender Tottenham have had over the past 10 years, and if Van de Ven can go on to become even half as good as his idol, he will be a star at Spurs.

For the first time in a while, it feels like Tottenham have a top-class defensive pairing, and Van de Ven has played a huge part of Spurs’ success as of late.