‘Staggering’, ‘Levy incompetence at its finest’: Some Spurs fans think 2020 decision is looking stupid now

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Spurs fans have been praising Jan Vertonghen for his impressive Belgium display at Euro 2020 on Monday.

The 34-year-old joined Tottenham in the summer of 2012 after they reportedly paid Ajax around £9.5m for the player.

Vertonghen was a rock in Spurs’ defence for eight years, clocking up 315 appearances.

However, Tottenham ended up losing the Belgian on a free transfer last summer.

“I should not have continued playing”

Months earlier, Vertonghen had suffered a concussion while playing for Spurs in the Champions League semi-finals.

Vertonghen, who moved to Benfica in August, told Sporza that the injury contributed to a dip in his form during his final season at Tottenham.

He admitted he felt the effects of that concussion for nine months.

“I suffered a lot from that – dizziness and headaches,” said Vertonghen.

“I should not have continued playing, it affected me in total for nine months and that’s why I couldn’t bring what I wanted to on the field.

“I still had a year left on my contract, so I had to play, but when I played, I played badly.

“The fact I got benched had nothing to do with him [manager Jose Mourinho].

“I was in a period [when] I could not bring what I should have. I even thought he played me a lot, compared to how I performed.”

Spurs legend now a Euro 2020 quarter-finalist

A year on, and Vertonghen is looking good again, clocking up 42 appearances for Benfica in all competitions.

And he is now a Euro 2020 quarter-finalist after helping Belgium overcome Portugal in the last 16.

Vertonghen was always on hand to clear the ball and kept his composure during the 2016 champions’ waves of attack at the end.

Some Spurs fans feel the decision to allow Vertonghen’s contract to run down is now not looking very clever.