Tottenham Hotspur are pushing hard to complete a deal for Jan Paul van Hecke after making significant progress in negotiations over the weekend, with TEAMtalk understanding that personal terms have now been agreed with the Brighton & Hove Albion defender.
The Netherlands international has emerged as one of Spurs’ priority defensive targets this summer as Roberto De Zerbi begins a major rebuild in north London.
Sources have told us that Tottenham have been in active discussions with Brighton since last week and, although a number of offers have been rejected, talks between the clubs remain ongoing and constructive.
Indeed, Seagulls CEO Paul Barber revealed Spurs’ interest on Sunday, revealing to talkSPORT: “Yes, we have rejected a bid from Tottenham over the last week or so. In fact, two bids.”
We understand Spurs’ latest proposal is worth around £50million including add-ons for the 26-year-old centre-back, who has just one year left on his contract.
While that still falls short of Brighton’s valuation, confidence is growing that an agreement can eventually be reached.
Van Hecke is currently preparing for the World Cup finals with the Netherlands, whose campaign begins on Sunday against Japan in Texas, but we can reveal that the player is keen to have his club future resolved before then.
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De Zerbi key to Van Hecke signing at Tottenham
The defender has attracted interest from both Chelsea and Liverpool in recent months, but sources close to the situation have confirmed that Van Hecke has now made Tottenham his preferred destination and a key factor in that decision has been De Zerbi.
The pair enjoyed a strong working relationship during their time together at Brighton and sources indicate Van Hecke has already held discussions with his former manager regarding the project being built at Spurs.
Following those talks, the defender’s camp have informed interested clubs that a move to north London is now his first choice.
Van Hecke and his representatives are eager to complete the transfer before the weekend, allowing him to focus fully on the Netherlands’ World Cup campaign and Tottenham are doing everything possible to make that happen.
Brighton, meanwhile, have maintained a firm stance throughout negotiations.
The Seagulls are understood to have initially valued Van Hecke at more than £70million and remain determined to maximise any potential sale.
However, despite the gap that still exists between the two clubs’ valuations, sources on both sides remain optimistic that a compromise can be found.
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Tottenham defensive rebuild almost complete
Should the deal go through, Van Hecke would become the latest piece of Tottenham’s defensive overhaul.
As we have previously revealed, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson are both now on board as part of De Zerbi’s summer rebuild, while further changes are anticipated.
Spurs are planning to part ways with Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin, while the club are also aware of continued interest in both Micky van de Ven and highly-rated Croatian youngster Luka Vuskovic.
That uncertainty has made the addition of another top-class centre-back a priority.
Van Hecke fits the profile Tottenham are targeting perfectly, with the Dutchman regarded internally as a defender capable of becoming a long-term leader at the heart of the back line.
With personal terms now in place and talks between the clubs continuing, Spurs are hopeful they can secure one of their most important signings of the summer before the World Cup takes centre stage.
As the defensive rebuild nears completion, the focus is then expected to move to the attack, with a £50m swoop for a new left-sided forward also close to being agreed.