Negotiating a club that has mastered maximizing profits on the transfer market like Brighton was never going to be easy, but Tottenham Hotspur could not have predicted just how difficult it would be to get a decent deal for center back Jan Paul van Hecke, the latest obsession of manager Roberto De Zerbi, who has the carte blanche to do whatever the "hecke" he wants (yes, I will see myself out shortly) after leading Spurs to Premier League safety.
Tottenham put it in De Zerbi's contract that he would have a big say on things behind the scenes, and he is pulling his weight on Van Hecke, with whom he has a close relationship from their days working together with Brighton when Van Hecke was producing the best work of his career.
In exchange for the 26 year old, Brighton know how desperate De Zerbi is for Van Hecke, because they are asking for Luka Vuskovic and are only willing to pay 30 million pounds - not much more than half of what they are asking for Van Hecke from Tottenham, even though the Dutchman has just one year left on his contract.
Tottenham can't be pushovers with Luka Vuskovic
It is price gouging at its worst, and any competent club would put their foot down and leave the bargaining table, daring Jan Paul van Hecke to pressure Brighton into only wanting Spurs and to dare Brighton to risk Van Hecke running down his contract for free - just as players who want to go to other big clubs do when their parent club isn't being reasonable in transfer talks.
Unfortunately, Tottenham Hotspur have never, ever acted like a serious club, and they have somehow only become weaker pushovers in the time since Daniel Levy left. Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange have earned no faith from the Tottenham supporters, but, look, it is never too late to grow a spine.
Tottenham fans are going to find out just how serious Spurs are with Brighton pestering them for Luka Vuskovic, a generational talent who is the most valuable asset Spurs have. Spurs fans are going to find out if their front office is really foolish enough to sell a Bundesliga Player of the Season candidate alongside Ballon d'Or level players like Harry Kane and Michael Olise as a mere 19 year old center back for pennies on the dollar. If Spurs actually sell, at any price even, then things are graver than they had feared. Vuskovic, just as Pedro Porro, should be "untouchable".
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