‘You Could Already Tell’ – Tottenham Star Looked Special Early On Says Ex-Team-mate | OneFootball

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Micky van de Ven’s former team-mate Nick Doodeman has claimed that it was clear during the Tottenham Hotspur defender’s early days that he was a special player.

Spurs signed Van de Ven from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023 and he has been a mainstay in their defence since his arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The 25-year-old centre-back has featured 99 times for the London outfit in his career so far and helped them lift the Europa League during the 2024/25 season.

Van de Ven came through the academy set-up of Dutch outfit FC Volendam and he made 48 appearances for their senior team before moving to Wolfsburg.

His former boss Wim Jonk in the past stated that the Spurs defender is a player with no ceiling and Van de Ven represented the Netherlands national team during the 2026 World Cup.

Doodeman saw Van de Ven up close during his first spell with Volendam and he claimed that in his early days it was visible that the Spurs star had something special in him.

The winger added that Van de Ven caught his attention with his speed and strength and mentioned that sometimes in training sessions the Spurs star could easily manage to overtake him.

When asked about Van de Ven, Doodemand told Dutch daily the Noordhollands Dagblad: “Of course, it is very easy now to say that I could already see he was going to be a great player.

“You could already tell that there was something special about him. 

“He particularly impressed with his strength and speed.

“During training, I sometimes felt like I was ‘in the zone’, and yet he still managed to overtake me.”

The Tottenham star was criticised by former Dutch international Winston Bogarde for his defensive weaknesses after his displays at the World Cup and he was linked with Liverpool during the summer.

Spurs have gone through a squad rebuild this summer under Roberto De Zerbi, but the Italian has kept his faith in Van de Ven, who was impressed with Tottenham’s summer arrivals.

De Zerbi handed him the captains armband this season and after the rocky start of their ongoing Premier League campaign he will determined to help the team get back winning games.