In previous years, Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer business has taken hits and resulted in many criticising the club for who they bring in.
No one is going to deny that since Mauricio Pochettino’s exit, the club has gone backwards and struggled to maintain its place as a Champions League club.
Daniel Levy will always be a marmite-like figure with Tottenham Hotspur supporters, but you can’t deny his recent managers have been backed.
Antonio Conte was allowed to bring in Richarlison for a club-record transfer, including even niche signings such as the free transfer of Ivan Perisic.
Then during the recent summer transfer window, Ange Postecoglou was also backed with new players, even if he couldn’t do anything about the exit of Harry Kane.
James Maddison was one of the players Spurs brought in and he proved to have a brilliant campaign, even though his form tailed off towards the end.
The Euro 2024 hopeful spoke about another transfer that shocked him and that’s a certain Micky van de Ven.
The England playmaker added that if van de Ven didn’t get injured midway through the season, then he feels he would have been in the ’Team of the Year’, as he told talkSPORT (28/05/24 at 5:10 pm).
The Netherlands international was probably his side’s best player as they recorded a fifth-placed finish under Postecoglou.
The sheer pace of van de Ven was spoken about by Maddison, how he didn’t even know the player when he first arrived, how he turned out to be a ‘top player’ and a ‘great lad’ the more he got to know him.
Micky van de Ven’s transfer to Tottenham Hotspur
“He’s rapid,” said Maddison. “He’s absolutely rapid. I actually said to him as well when he came in, not straight away, but after a little bit, when I realised how good he was and how fast he was.
“I told him ‘you know I never heard of you’. I had never heard of Micky van de Ven. I said that to Micky. I wouldn’t say that at the start, obviously. Once I realised he was a top player. I couldn’t believe we had signed this centre-back.
“I was thinking ‘what’s his weakness?’ because he is good on the ball, good in the air, he’s tall, strong and rapid. I am thinking ‘where is the weakness?’ To be fair, I am still looking. I don’t want to get too carried away with him. I kind of love him and I want to as well because he is a top player and a great lad as well. Being a good person and a great lad in the changing room, just makes you appreciate him as a player even more and he’s a top lad. He has been a fantastic signing for us. Very disappointed that he had a big injury midway through the season because you would have been talking about someone who is probably in the Team of the Year.”
Tottenham Hotspur already making moves
The 2024 summer transfer isn’t open yet, but deals are already being made by the powers that be at the club.
Timo Werner has re-signed for the club after his six-month loan spell and goalkeeper Brandon Austin has also put pen-to-paper on a new contract to the delight of Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson.
READ MORE: Andy Townsend lauds player who has won 5 trophies since leaving Tottenham in 2021
You feel this is just the start of Tottenham’s summer transfer business because a lot of work needs to be done.
There was no European football at the club this season, yet there was a struggle to see through the campaign and the ending was more of a fall towards the finishing line.
It’s a bit obvious, not only starting quality needs to be brought in, but the squad also needs to be bulked, with a double transfer raid of Chelsea expected.
The post ‘I couldn’t believe we signed’: James Maddison admits shock at Tottenham securing transfer of 'top player' appeared first on HITC.
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