‘It just happened’… Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham signed the ‘perfect’ player for him last summer

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Ange Postecoglou has named the Tottenham Hotspur summer signing who was absolutely perfect for what he was looking for within his squad.

Ange Postecoglou was speaking as he played down the idea that Spurs need to sign a centre-back who can specifically play on one side of the backline heading into the January transfer window.

Tottenham certainly appear to have missed Micky van de Ven since he sustained a hamstring injury in that dramatic defeat to Chelsea in November. The Dutchman made a flying start to life in the Premier League.

Ange Postecoglou praises ‘perfect’ Micky van de Ven

Rio Ferdinand suggested that van de Ven looks like the real deal. And his pace allowed Tottenham to deploy the incredibly high line that teams really struggled to play against in the opening weeks of the campaign.

Unfortunately for Tottenham, Cristian Romero has now joined van de Ven on the sidelines. With that, some fans may be concerned about how Spurs may have to approach January.

But Postecoglou – whose comments have been reported by Football London – has noted that there are much more important attributes than their preferred foot when looking at potential targets, as he lauded van de Ven’s capabilities.

“I don’t put as much stock into the left sided or right sided centre-back scenario, we just need another player in that position who can provide more depth for us and the ability to change things up. It won’t really matter if it’s left side or right side, it’s more about the profile characteristics,” he said.

“We didn’t go looking for a left sided centre-back at the start of the year, it just happened that Micky was the perfect centre-back. Even if we had another left-sided one I still would have signed him. It’s about looking at the right profile and characteristics we need at this moment in time and seeing what’s available and going from there.”

Comments suggest centre-back hunt may be slightly easier than some expected

It would be huge for Tottenham to sign a defender who proves to be as impressive and influential as van de Ven.

Spurs did not lose a single league game where van de Ven completed 90 minutes. Obviously, that is not entirely down to him. But his partnership with Romero looked incredibly strong.

It is going to be a huge ask to land a player who ticks as many boxes as the 22-year-old. But it is slightly more encouraging that Postecoglou does not believe that it is essential to have a left-footer and right-footer playing alongside each other.