Tottenham Hotspur star Micky van de Ven may be on borrowed time in North London, with the club looking to upgrade on the Dutchman.
The Lilywhites are in a wretched run of form having won just once in the last 10 fixtures, with manager Ange Postecoglou feeling the pressure in the hot seat. In recent weeks, the Australian has been reduced to fielding third-choice centre-back Radu Dragusin alongside teenager Archie Gray.
Tottenham find themselves in the bottom half of the table – and with odds shortening on Spurs sacking the manager, there's been plenty of focus on some of the more important players in the squad.
Tottenham are eyeing €70m defender to fix problem position
Van de Ven, who is ranked at no.85 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now, has played just seven times with centre-back partner Cristian Romero this season.
The Dutchman is the fastest player in the Premier League right now but has had repeated hamstring injuries, perhaps as a result of his physical style of defending. It seems, however, as though Tottenham are growing tired of this unavailability.
Sport Witness have relayed reports from SportBILD that the North Londoners are now ready to bring in Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen.
The Colombian had an eventful night against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last night, scoring and getting sent off for the Bundesliga holders in an eventual loss. After links with Liverpool, however, the left-footed centre-back appears to be a target for Tottenham and Chelsea.
The report values the 23-year-old at €70 million, stating that a summer departure from Germany is more likely than one this month. Hincapie would likely be a starter, for that price, slotting into the team ahead of Van de Ven.
FourFourTwo understands that Tottenham are also planning for the departure of veteran defender Ben Davies. There could, however, be the scope to use Van de Ven at left-back, with Hincapie centrally, too.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, Spurs signing a left-sided defender is a certainty from the next two windows. Postecoglou rushed Van de Ven back against Chelsea earlier this season, only to see the star pick up another knock – but given Tottenham's hesistance to spend big in the market in recent seasons, coupled with a season in which they likely miss out on European football, Hincapie might not be a realistic target.
Van de Ven is worth €55m, according to Transfermarkt. Tottenham return to Premier League action against Leicester City this weekend.
