Tottenham Hotspur have one of the most talented young defenders in world football in Micky van de Ven, who forms an elite partnership with World Cup winner Cristian Romero. The two of them together should be inseparable and the bed rock of this Tottenham team, but after Romero faced rumors of a transfer exit this past summer before maintaining his loyalty to Spurs - despite everything they did to screw things up - Van de Ven is now the one to worry about.
While Van de Ven did not say anything indicting about his future in a recent public interview on his status, he did not exactly fully dispell transfer rumors or maintain his loyalty to Spurs.
And Van de Ven, like so many others at the club, has cut a frustrated figure. First, there was the infamous hand shake snub of manager Thomas Frank, but that was largely forgiven since Spurs fans hate Frank more than Van de Ven does. But then after the awful loss to Bournemouth, Van de Ven, who was not impressive at all in the game, decided to have a right go at the Spurs away crowd, which is an absolute no go in football, no matter how good you are (or you think you are) as a player.
Tottenham need people who want to be here
Now, Van de Ven is being actively linked with transfers out, with L. Miguelsanz of Diario Sport going so far as to report that Micky van de Ven desperately wants to leave Tottenham Hotspur in 2026 as a summer transfer and would be interested in a move to La Liga giants FC Barcelona.
As with Romero last summer, expect Van de Ven to be linked frequently to European giants, specifically the two La Liga powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona. He has the quality and upside to play for either club, and both Barca and Madrid could use another elite center back for the next several years.
It would not be surprising at all, with everything going on right now, for the leaks to Barcelona and the transfer innuendo to be coming from within, with Van de Ven's camp putting out feelers and trying to link to the big clubs to put Tottenham under fire to give him a ton of money or to make the statement that their client is quietly disgruntled and wants out. Spurs fans will just hope the club get proper compensation, because with Luka Vuskovic rising, Van de Ven's attitude may be wearing thin.