Spurs made big mistake with £27m flop who’s earning more than Van de Ven

It does feel like it’s all streamlining at Tottenham Hotspur this season, with Ange Postecoglou leading the charge toward European football once again.

Last year Spurs fell by the wayside in the Premier League and chairman Daniel Levy knew that, having dismissed Antonio Conte, he had to get it right, lest his outfit sink further into the mire of midtable.

Postecoglou had never managed in a top-five European league but his work in Scotland with Celtic with Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos spoke of his credentials and Tottenham made their move.

Tottenham remain a distance away from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, both literally and figuratively, but shrewd transfer recruitment and an entertaining and effective new playing style have rekindled the fires of belief in supporters’ hearts.

That recruitment has seen improvements not only in the type of player but how deals have crossed the line, with James Maddison arriving from Leicester City for £40m, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario moving from Empoli for an initial £17m fee and Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski both completing permanent moves for relatively shrewd fees.

At first, Micky van de Ven’s £43m transfer fee from Wolfsburg appeared to be somewhat steep; Liverpool were also interested in the Netherlands international but reportedly pulled out of the race in July with financial concerns.

But the 22-year-old has been a bona fide success and his acquisition looks to be more of a bargain each time he graces the Premier League with his athleticism and defensive strength.

Micky van de Ven’s Spurs career in numbers

Van de Ven has unquestionably been one of the Premier League’s best and most influential additions of recent years, with his singular defensive skill set, blended together with the elite aggression of Cristian Romero, elevating Tottenham’s backline and putting the woes of the 2022/23 campaign into distant memory.

As per Sofascore, he has completed 95% of his passes and has come out on top in 66% of his ground duels, also averaging 1.7 tackles, 5.8 ball recoveries and 2.8 clearances per game.

Moreover, he ranks among the top 3% of centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 1% for successful take-ons and the top 16% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref, highlighting how energetic and proactive he is in his duties.

His remarkable pace and innate ease in his defending have already eradicated any questions surrounding the £43m paid for his signature, and while that fee is large – though not inordinately so – the fact that his services were wrapped up with a weekly salary of £50k-per-week speaks volumes regarding the astute dealing from Levy and co.

Believe it or not, the Dutchman actually pockets the measliest earnings of any of Tottenham’s signings since Postecoglou’s anointment last summer, and while he’s only young this represents a promising and refreshing change of track.

Take, for example, Tottenham’s £27m move for Steven Bergwijn back in January 2020. Van de Ven’s fellow Dutchman left Ajax to head to the English capital with a weight of expectation, but he flattered to deceive and lasted just a season-and-a-half at the club.

Steven Bergwijn’s earnings at Spurs

Bergwijn was 22 years old at the time of his arrival unlike Van de Ven he struggled to carry over the fine form in his homeland that had seen him post five goals and ten assists across his final 16 Eredivisie appearances.

Journalist Phil Casey – rather scathingly – called Bergwijn a “useless makeweight” for his inability to perform for Tottenham, with such remarks derived from the player’s return of just eight goals from 83 fixtures in all competitions for the Lilywhites.

Despite some slick skills and fleet-footedness that caused English opposition problems, the 5 foot 10 forward really did flatter to deceive and started just four times in the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, ending Bergwijn’s stay and allowing Ajax to swoop back in and re-sign him on a club record £26m deal.

Considering he earned a £75k-per-week wage with Spurs and indeed the same amount at Ajax – some £25k-per-week more than Van de Ven – it can only go down as a failed acquisition and one that is very much emblematic of the dismal few years following Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure.

How Steven Bergwijn has performed since leaving Spurs

Last season, Bergwijn plundered 16 goals and six assists from 45 matches for Ajax but failed to stop Feyenoord from running away with the Eredivisie title. Still, his sublime ball-playing skills and electric movements returned and left Spurs questioning what had gone wrong.

And this year, while his outfit have been suffering with some dreadful performances, Bergwijn has taken his performances to a whole new level, scoring seven goals and adding four assists from just 16 top-flight games but, moreover, completing 87% of his passes and averaging 3.9 ball recoveries, 2.1 dribbles and 4.9 successful duels per game, as per Sofascore.

The clip above shows a simple but noteworthy whipped cross into the path of his teammate Brian Brobbey; at his best, Bergwijn combines his natural attributes with polished technicality and selfless creativity to form the make-up of a Premier League star.

It didn’t work out at Spurs but at 26 years old he may yet return to English shores and catch the eye, ranking among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across divisions similar to the Dutch Eredivisie for pass completion, the top 12% for shot-creating actions and the top 14% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref, to showcase this point.

Ultimately, Van de Ven and his fellow Postecoglou signings all look to be successes and this is a demonstration of the new approach at the club that might just sprout success. It’s a new era and the Lilywhites must not look back.