When Roberto De Zerbi insisted upon reuniting with his former Brighton star center back as the new foundational piece of the build up play for Tottenham Hotspur from out of the defense, Spurs knew that they would have to lose Luka Vuskovic. Or, at least, the thinking was that Vuskovic would insist on leaving for more minutes, and while Spurs were able to convince Lucas Bergvall to stay in a similar situation with the Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes signings, De Zerbi was all too happy to let the younger and better Vuskovic go to Brighton for just as much money as what he paid for Van Hecke.
While Van Hecke hasn't been perfect to start his career at N17, he has been as advertised and quite good after adjusting from a rough start to life with Spurs, especially when he got torn up on Matchday 1 by Brentford at the Gtech Stadium in a 3-0 loss.
Van Hecke has been arguably the best progressive passer - and maybe even the best overall passer - in the Premier League, picking up where he left off for the Netherlands national team during the 2026 World Cup.
Luka Vuskovic was no fluke at Hamburg
So signing Van Hecke isn't the big problem of losing Luka Vuskovic, who is also having a great start to the 2026/27 Premier League season for Brighton and is already proving that his elite season in the Bundesliga was no fluke.
Right now, if Tottenham Hotspur are regretting any addition that kept Vuskovic out of getting minutes, then it is the free agent signing of Argentinian international Marcos Senesi. Last season, Senesi was the best ball playing center back in the Premier League and a massive breakout star for Bournemouth, proving to be one of the keys to the Cherries rise to European football and a legitimate Team of the Season candidate.
But in his starts for Tottenham this season, Senesi has been poor, and both times Roberto De Zerbi wrote his name in the starting 11, Spurs lost and gave up a season high three goals. His marking, mental concentration, and overall defensive quality have been horrendous, and it's not like he has made up for it on the ball.
There is no way Marcos Senesi has been anywhere near as good as Luka Vuskovic so far this season, and Tottenham may even have to consider him the fourth center back behind Tosin Adarabioyo if this keeps up. Between Vuskovic and Senesi, Spurs have to be regretting the "free" agent move.
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