When Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi pushed Spurs hard to pay whatever price necessary, including losing top prospect Luka Vuskovic, in order to sign Jan Paul van Hecke from his former club Brighton, the Italian coach knew he was bringing in a potentially special player to N17.
Van Hecke and De Zerbi have a father son relationship of sorts, and while that did make some fans nervous about a potential "nepotism" kind of signing, all Van Hecke has done since joining Spurs - well, at least, after the Brentford debacle - is blow the fans away with his quality.
The Dutch center back has indeed formed a perfect partnership with compatriot Micky van de Ven, who looks far more comfortable with the ex Brighton star than he did with Cristian Romero by his side. And while Spurs fans were worried about the team's quality on the ball without Romero around, Van Hecke has been ten times the player as a passer.
Jan Paul van Hecke is the Premier League's best passer
To prove it, Gradient Sports released their early passing grades to start the Premier League season, and even though Spurs are without a win or even a goal in the 2026/27 league campaign, Jan Paul van Hecke has literally been the highest graded passer at any position. And Micky van de Ven ranks highly, too, sitting in seventh place.
Van Hecke and Van de Ven have been so dominant on the ball that they are literally beating out elite playmaking midfielders in the Premier League in passing grades. Right now, Van Hecke is first ahead of Bruno Fernandes, who had well over 10 assists last season for Manchester United and was the literal Premier League Player of the Season. Meanwhile, Van de Ven is seventh ahead of the likes of Martin Odegaard, who is 10th over at Arsenal.
That is such a huge carrot for both Van de Ven and Van Hecke to say that they both grade out as among the best passers in the league together, above two borderline world class attacking midfielders who have been in Premier League Teams of the Season over the recent years.
Van Hecke and Ven de Ven, scarily enough, are only going to get better as the new look Spurs squad gets more chemistry and the midfielders and forwards improve with them. But already, they are literally the best of the best on the ball, and that is quietly a credit to Roberto De Zerbi, too.
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