Jan Paul van Hecke has recently signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Brighton & Hove Albion. A family member has revealed that it is moving to Britain's capital that was a draw for the player.
The player's uncle, Jan Poortvliet, told sportniuews (translated from Dutch), "This is going to give him an extra boost during the World Cup. This is such a great motivation. He doesn't have to worry about it anymore, either; full focus on the World Cup and then off to London. That is also more fun than Brighton. This is a city you love to visit."
Residents of Brighton would disagree due to the city's location on the south coast of England. However, there is no doubt that London is a bigger place with more going on.
Poortvliet was a player himself who spent the majority of his career with PSV Eindhoven. He may have chosen a certain club in the south of France later in his career due to the lifestyle. He played for Cannes, which is the team of a luxurious city in the French Riviera.
Van Hecke's uncle is now a manager and was in charge of Southampton during the 2008/09 season. He is now in his second spell as the boss of FC Eindhoven in the second tier of Dutch soccer.
There are also footballing reasons why Van Hecke has joined Tottenham
Tottenham is one of the biggest clubs in England. Last season, they narrowly avoided relegation, but the team that got to the Champions League final in 2019 should not have been down there.
They did endure a 17-year trophy drought, which was finally ended last year by Ange Postecoglou's success in the Europa League. It did not work out for Postecoglou's successor, Thomas Frank, at Spurs. Igor Tudor's spell at the club was also a disaster. However, Roberto De Zerbi has steadied the ship, guided them to survival, and they can now be looking up the Premier League table.
Van Hecke knows De Zerbi from their days together at Brighton. The center-back was a trusted starter for De Zerbi's side that reached the last 16 of the Europa League before losing to AS Roma.
The Seagulls qualified for Europe again for the upcoming season with a place in the Europa Conference League. Spurs will be without European soccer, but De Zerbi is expected to get the club back to where their supporters feel they deserve to be.
Van Hecke is having a solid World Cup so far, playing 90 minutes of the Netherlands' opening two games. Spurs fans will be hoping he has a good tournament, but most importantly for them is that he stays fit for the upcoming domestic campaign.
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