Earlier this year, there were reports that Liverpool were showing a keen interest in Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven.
Earlier this year, there were reports that Liverpool are showing a keen interest in Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven. The 24-year-old has a contract at Spurs running until 2029.
The North London side signed the defender in the summer of 2023, when there were already links with the Anfield club at the time. The deal to bring Van de Ven to Spurs was worth an initial £34.5 million, rising to £43 million with add-ons, matching the club-record centre-back fee paid for Cristian Romero the previous year.
It was during Jurgen Klopp’s final summer at the club where the Dutchman was being linked to the club.
Now Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that the Reds were keen on Van de Ven in that period, and it seems that the club’s interest in the defender has not gone away:
“He [Micky Van de Ven] is top, he can be as good as he was. You watch him at the World Cup, I reckon they will play him left-back and he will be unbelievable once he gets going,” Postecoglou began on the Stick to Football podcast.
“He is technically good. His ability to cover ground, though, is just phenomenal, mate. You would set him up, a lot of teams like to go man for man now. You would set him up against any striker in the world without any fear that he would get outmuscled and definitely not outrun.
“He has got a top mentality too. I remember when we signed him, because I think Liverpool were in for him at the time as well, and I met his dad,” the former Celtic boss confessed.
“I mean, he is not talking out of turn, right? But, like, he was like Secret Service. I remember him saying to me, he goes, ‘Listen, he has got options, but he is coming here to play, you had better play him’.”
Postecoglou added on Micky Van de Ven:
“So he has had a really good upbringing and he is not going to get carried away. He works hard on his game, and he is aware.”
“He is top mate, he could be as good as anything in terms of you think about the modern game and the physical characteristics are obviously important.”
“He has improved his heading, I still think that is an area where aerially he can get stronger, because he is a big lad there. Sometimes his timing is not great, but the rest of his game, very coachable, very coachable.”
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