De Zerbi's 'protégé' finally arrives at Tottenham! Center-back Van Hecke signed for a transfer fee of 100 billion won... Romero effectively parted ways

*This content was translated by AI.

England's Tottenham has successfully strengthened its defense. Roberto De Zerbi (47)'s 'protégé' Jan Paul van Hecke (26) will don the Tottenham jersey.

British outlet TalkSport reported on the 17th (Korean time) that "Tottenham has reached an agreement to sign Brighton (England) defender Van Hecke." Van Hecke is currently a member of the Netherlands national team and is participating in the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup. According to the report, Tottenham plans to pay a transfer fee of 52 million pounds (approximately 100 billion won) to bring in Van Hecke.

Coach De Zerbi previously coached Van Hecke during his tenure as Brighton's manager. It appears he highly evaluated Van Hecke at the time. De Zerbi took charge of Tottenham last March and sought to sign his former student at his new club. Ultimately, the reunion was realized at Tottenham.

The negotiation process was not easy. Tottenham had previously attempted to sign Van Hecke but failed due to transfer fee issues. Brighton rejected Tottenham's two offers. However, Tottenham continued negotiations and ultimately reached an agreement by agreeing to pay a substantial sum of 52 million pounds.

This also includes a sell-on clause. A sell-on clause is a condition where the former club receives a portion of the transfer fee if the player is transferred to another team in the future. In other words, if Van Hecke leaves Tottenham for another team later, Brighton can receive 20% of the transfer fee.

For Brighton, this represents a massive transfer profit. When Brighton signed Van Hecke from Dutch club NAC Breda in 2020, they paid a transfer fee of 1.7 million pounds (approximately 3.5 billion won).

Van Hecke, who holds Dutch nationality, is a center-back with excellent physical attributes at 189cm. He is highly regarded for his aerial ability and tough defending. Last season, he played 36 Premier League matches, averaging 3.2 aerial duels won per game. He also recorded an average of 1.5 tackles and 5.3 clearances, playing a key role in Brighton's defense.

Van Hecke has been active at Brighton since 2020. In particular, he established himself as a starting center-back under Coach De Zerbi.

He is also expanding his presence with the Netherlands national team. After making his debut in 2024, Van Hecke has appeared in 12 international matches to date. He started in the first match of the North American World Cup against Japan.

Brighton was in a situation where they had no choice but to consider selling. Van Hecke's contract with Brighton expires next summer. He has not yet signed a renewal and attracted interest from several teams this summer. Liverpool and Newcastle United of the same Premier League were also reportedly monitoring Van Hecke. However, Tottenham emerged as the ultimate winner in the race to sign him.

Tottenham, which barely avoided relegation from the Premier League last season by finishing 17th in the league, is going through a busy transfer market this summer. Van Hecke is Tottenham's third signing. Previously, Tottenham signed Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi. All three players are defensive resources.

This indicates Tottenham's strong will to restructure its defense. With a large number of new faces joining, changes are expected in the status of existing players. A representative player is 'captain' Christian Romero.

Romero has been involved in transfer rumors for some time. He has also faced criticism from Tottenham fans due to unnecessary red cards and attitude controversies during matches. He also gave an interview with the implication that he might leave the team, raising doubts about his intention to stay. Romero is being linked with teams in Spain's La Liga. Given that Tottenham has repeatedly signed defenders, it appears they have already begun the process of parting ways with Romero.

Tottenham is also looking to strengthen its attack. Manchester City winger Savinho has come onto their radar. TalkSport stated, "Tottenham wanted to sign Brazilian winger Savinho last summer but failed to make it happen. They showed interest again in January, but he remained at Man City once more," while also predicting that "Tottenham plans to resume negotiations with Man City regarding Savinho's transfer."

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*This content was translated by AI.