Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Jamie Redknapp was very impressed with Micky van de Ven during Sunday’s 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
The Dutch defender scored the second goal of his Premier League career when he rocketed Spurs into a 2-1 lead after being teed up by Son Heung-min in the 52nd minute.
A Murillo own goal had earlier opened the scoring in London before Chris Wood drew Forest level midway through the first half.
Pedro Porro later made sure of the win for Spurs – who moved up to fourth place in the EPL table, ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference.
Van de Ven’s goal came from his first shot of 2024 – in his 10th game of the calendar year.
As usual, most of the 22-year-old’s work was done at the other end of the field.
Van de Ven won five tackles, made two clearances and committed zero fouls.
He also completed 94.3% of his 70 passes.
Speaking on Sky Sports after Sunday’s game, Redknapp claimed that Van de Ven was just as good as Arsenal’s star center-back William Saliba.
Redknapp also suggested that Van de Ven is a better player than fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk was aged 22.
“Arsenal fans will look at Saliba, who is a great young defender as well, but I think this guy’s equally as good. He’s got everything going for him,” said Redknapp.
“You see the difference when Spurs lost him when he had his hamstring injuries. I think if he stays injury-free there’s no reason why he can’t almost emulate what Virgil van Dijk’s done.
“When Virgil was at a similar age, Virgil wasn’t producing the performances that he is right now. He’s only going to get better, as long as he doesn’t get too many injuries along the way because that can affect him with the hamstrings and the speed that he’s got, but he’s a top player, he really is.”
Van Dijk was playing for Celtic in Scotland when he was 22. He then moved to Southampton at 24, before joining Liverpool aged 26.
