Micky van de Ven has a big future at Tottenham – Thomas Frank | OneFootball

Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank is relaxed about the long-term future of Micky van de Ven.

Centre-back Van de Ven struck twice in Sunday’s 3-0 victory at Everton to take his tally for the season to five goals in 13 appearances.

Van de Ven has stepped up in the absence of captain Cristian Romero, who signed a new deal in August, while Rodrigo Bentancur has also put pen-to-paper on fresh terms as Spurs try to keep together the core group of players which secured Europa League success in May.

Tottenham will attempt to stay on track for more silverware on Wednesday when they visit Carabao Cup holders Newcastle, where Van de Ven could again lead the side out given the ongoing absence of Romero with an adductor issue.

And despite speculation over Real Madrid tracking the Dutch defender, Frank is calm about the future of the 24-year-old, who has not improved terms since he joined on a six-year deal in 2023.

“Yeah, very happy with Micky. I think he has been brilliant for the club since he signed and he has taken some steps up this season,” Frank said.

“I think he actually defends even better. I think he is still very good on the ball, he added the goals and the headed goals, which I am very happy with. He’s a threat from set-pieces.

“Character and leadership also growing and as far as I know, we have a good contract with him but definitely a player I see with a big future at the club.

“I think he is happy here, that is very important and we’re happy with him, so let’s see what happens in the future.

“I think the most important thing is it looks like he really enjoys his football, he really enjoys his time here, I am very happy with him, everyone is really happy, so that’s a good sign.”

Frank has tweaked his line-up in every fixture since he was appointed in June and will make changes for the trip to St James’ Park.

Archie Gray, Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert are in contention to start, but the Danish coach reiterated his desire to win silverware at the north London club.

“We have some players here who had a fantastic experience last year winning the Europa League final. They are very eager to win more trophies and we would like to compete and win. We are definitely going for it,” Frank said.

“Of course there will be a little bit of rotation like I have basically done from game to game because we have played every third or fourth day.

“You need to do it, every club does if you need to compete and that’s the next thing. If you want to compete over 60 games, you can’t play the same XI for 60 games because the risk of injury, fatigue and lack of performance, that naturally happens.

“So, it is that fine balance to manage that, but that is what we are up for.”