Every club in world football have at least one player they regret missing out. Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona are no different.
Spurs looked at the likes of William Saliba, Willian, Sadio Mane and more before they would go on to become household names at rival Premier League clubs.
But at least Tottenham did get a deal done for Micky van de Ven, the former Wolfsburg defender who arrived in North London as a relative unknown during the summer of 2023. Liverpool had shown an interest before the Ange Postecoglou’s side secured the Dutchman’s signature.
The enduring brilliance of Virgil van Dijk, at least, offsets any disappointment Liverpool may feel at failing to land their captain’s compatriot.
Barcelona, in contrast, were very early to the Van de Ven party.
The 6ft 4ins colussus was plying his trade in the Netherlands with FC Volendam when Bojan Krkic, the former Blaugrana striker, arrived in Holland to scout some of the brightest young talents in Dutch football.
Barcelona could have signed Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven
“They told me that he was growing a lot, so I went to see him at the next match,” Bojan tells Cadena Ser, Van de Ven’s remarkable pace catching the eye even before he moved to the Bundesliga in 2021.
“That same week, they did physical tests in training and it turned out that Van de Ven had a higher speed than Kylian Mbappe!”
Bojan recalls pleading with Barcelona to take a chance on a than unknown defensive talent. Much to his dismay, the Spanish giants would not rubber stamp a deal that would have set them back just £3 million.
“I called them and insisted on Barcelona, because we had him for three and a half million [euros],” adds Bojan, formerly of Stoke City, Ajax and AC Milan. “It didn’t run at the end.
“[Barcelona failed to sign Van de Ven] due to sporting reasons.”
Flash forward to 2024, and there is an argument to be made that Micky van de Ven is now among the top five left-sided centre-halves on planet earth. Van de Ven was recently recorded as the fastest player in the Premier League.
And Van de Ven’s remarkable attributes were epitomised in Tottenham’s 3-0 win at Manchester United before the October international break.
Van de Ven’s speed likened to Spurs icon Gareth Bale
A stirring defensive display protecting a lead Van de Ven helped give to the visitors with a barnstorming run, scything through the heart of Erik ten Hag’s Man United.
“The run from Van de Ven for the first goal at Old Trafford, it’s probably the best run I’ve ever seen from a centre-back. Certainly live! It was absolutely incredible,” said an awe-struck Gary Neville, Spurs’ number 37 picking up the ball in his own half and eventually setting up a Brennan Johnson tap-in from almost the opposition touchline.
“The actual cross at the end of it was spectacular.
“I’ve got this major problem at the moment with centre-backs rolling their foot on the ball, passing it back to one another, passing it sideways, passing it to the goalkeeper… It’s boring me to death!
“So to actually see a centre-back drive forward with the ball, we don’t see that as much anymore. We don’t tend to see centre-backs driving into space, running with the ball, committing people…”