Tottenham Hotspur were able to survive relegation from the Premier League after a stout 1-0 win over Everton at home on Sunday, but since the club finished 17th in the league after another embarrassing season domestically, they are not out of the woods yet when it comes to potentially losing star players with ambitions of competing for silver ware bigger than the preceding season's Europa League.
Besides captain Cristian Romero, whose departure seems like a foregone conclusion after recent events, fellow center Micky van de Ven has been frequently linked to big clubs around European football, including La Liga powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid. Meanwhile, starting right back Pedro Porro, one of the most important players in the team, is also being linked with Real Madrid and has been generating big interest from Manchester City over the past several months.
However, Spurs fans worried about losing Porro and Van de Ven, two pillars of the club who are only just entering their prime years, may not have to be so concerned after all. Because according to a report from Spurs insider @szyexcl, Tottenham are set to resume contract extension talks with both Porro and Van de Ven. And better yet, both players are expected to indeed sign those new deals, as they are viewed as very important pieces of the Roberto De Zerbi project going forward.
Roberto De Zerbi has gotten them back on track
It is no surprise that De Zerbi values Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro highly, and though much of the conversation has unsurprisingly focused on the midfielders, the two starting defenders were among the biggest beneficiaries of the De Zerbi appointment.
Van de Ven and Porro were huge disappointments during Tottenham's worst days in their descent to relegation, but they returned to playing like absolute studs for Tottenham Hotspur down the stretch of the season's relegation fight.
Porro, on his day, is one of the best right backs in European football, and Van de Ven, with his athletic traits, can fulfill his destiny as one of the best center backs in the world, too. And Tottenham would not want to lose these kinds of players when they are already one of the biggest disappointments around, only to watch them shine at elite clubs like Madrid and Man City in their own league.
Tottenham fans will hope Van de Ven and Porro can sign new deals this summer instead of leaving and build an even closer relationship to De Zerbi, who has started to endear himself to fans after a lot of skepticism coming in.
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