One of the biggest concerns among the ownerships of football teams nowadays is how to keep talented centre backs on the team, as there aren’t many suitable candidates that are actually worth to spend a big amount of money on them, so whenever they find who they think can be their defensive anchor for the future, they almost never hesitate to break the bank in order to keep him aboard for a few years.
This is precisely the case of Jan Vertonghen, who is reportedly working on a new £40,000 per week deal that’ll keep him with Tottenham for the long term even despite being some interest from other big clubs from Europe in acquiring the Belgian’s services.
The 29-year-old is currently one of the best centre-backs in the world and his current performances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, as well as the Belgian national team show that the multifunctional player is really worth the big investment and if you have any kind of doubt about it, let’s take a look at some numbers that might as well change your mind.
Vertonghen has actually been one of the most consistent players in Pochettino’s team for the past few years and this season hasn’t been an exception to that rule, owning an average player rating of 7.27 / 10 so far this year.
Jan is currently averaging 0.9 tackles per game, to go along with 1 interception, 9.3 clearances, 1.1 blocked shots. On top of that, his most impressive stats are the fact that he only gets dribbled past 0.1 times per game while committing just 0.6 fouls per game for the Spurs, showing some outstanding display by the defender.
Besides, the Belgian has only earned three yellow cards in over ten appearances, winning an average of 3.5 aerial duels per game while completing over 85 percent of his passes. He constantly makes his team play better and is one of the biggest responsible candidate for Tottenham defense that only allows 0.5 goals per game.
On top of that, Vertonghen’s versatility make him a tremendously complete player, as the Belgian can play both at full-back or centre-back as needed without compromising himself in any of the halves of the pitch, and that’s something not many players can do properly nowadays.
Besides, Tottenham’s lack of experienced players in that position is something to keep in mind, as the young prospects aren’t quite ready yet to earn some first team minutes unless there’s some major injury. If you add Alderweireld’s injury proneness into the mix, the need for owning a versatile defender who can fill his spot seems even bigger.
Last but not least, the fact that Vertonghen has never been replaced so far this season simply because of his great performances and durability, and that’s why Mauricio Pochettino is eager to keep the talented defender by his side for a while longer.
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