The Dutchman has returned to Tottenham from international duty for treatment after suffering an injury while with the Netherlands
10:52, 01 Oct 2026Updated 10:54, 01 Oct 2026
Jan Paul van Hecke is an injury doubt for Tottenham’s Premier League match at Manchester United after withdrawing from the Netherlands squad
Netherlands boss Xavi has said that Jan Paul van Hecke’s injured toe was too painful to even touch the ball in training after the Tottenham defender was withdrawn from international duty.
The 27-year-old centre-back played the full 90-plus minutes in both of the Netherlands’ Nations League matches this week, with a 1-1 draw with Germany in Amsterdam last Thursday and then Sunday’s 2-1 victory away against Serbia. However, it was in that latter match that Van Hecke suffered the injury that ended his international duty early as he did not realise with the adrenalin of the encounter that someone had stepped on his toe.
The defender is now back at Hotspur Way as the extent of his injury is assessed.
“During the match against Serbia, someone stepped on him. He didn’t realise it during the match, but afterwards it was impossible for him to play,” Xavi said in an interview with Dutch broadcasters NOS, as quoted by Sport Witness.
“He really wanted to try, but he was in a lot of pain. That is why we decided to take him off the list. He tried to participate in recovery training [on Tuesday]. He tried again [on Wednesday], but he couldn’t touch the ball.”
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That means Van Hecke will miss the Dutch squad’s games away in Greece and back home against Serbia and he will now also be a doubt for Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham.
Spurs paid £52million to release the defender from the final year of his contract in the summer in order to reunite him with his former Brighton boss. Van Hecke has played every minute in the Premier League so far for Tottenham and headed in his first goal for the club in the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa which left the north London club sitting bottom of the table going into the international break.
Spurs return to action on October 10 with a trip to Manchester United and the head coach will be sweating over the fitness of Van Hecke for the encounter at Old Trafford.
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