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Spurs have agreed a fee with Roberto De Zerbi’s former club, according to reports
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Tottenham Hotspur are close to finalising the signing of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke.
Van Hecke featured in the Netherlands ’ first game of World Cup 2026 , a dramatic 2-2 draw with Japan at AT&T Stadium , amid growing speculation about his future. After six seasons on the books at Brighton , the 26-year-old is reportedly on the cusp of joining Spurs .
According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, the clubs have now agreed a fee of £52 million after Van Hecke ‘had shown no interest in extending his terms’ at the Amex Stadium.
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Jan Paul van Hecke bound for Spurs with fee agreed
An initial offer from the North London club was rebuffed but Van Hecke, whose contract expires next summer, will move to Spurs to reunite with former Seagulls manager Roberto De Zerbi .
The Italian steered Spurs to safety at the end of a dismal Premier League season and the club is now linked with a host of big-money statement signings as they seek to get back on track and back into Europe.
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“Personal terms are not expected to be an issue for the centre-back, who is close to Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi having worked together at the south-coast club between 2022 and 2024,” reports Ornstein.
“A move would continue a busy start to the transfer window for Spurs, who have already signed centre-back Marcos Senesi and left-back Andy Robertson , following the expiration of their contracts at Bournemouth and Liverpool respectively.”
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Van Hecke will be in action again when the Netherlands take on Sweden in their second match at NRG Stadium on Saturday.
Brighton are already working on a replacement for Van Hecke, with another World Cup defender understood to be very much in the frame.
19-year-old Luka Vuskovic is in the Croatia squad after a fine season in Germany with Hamburg, where he was on loan from Spurs after joining from Hajduk Split last summer, two years after agreeing to the move.
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The teenager is reportedly a top target for Brighton but Ornstein has confirmed that a second offer worth £35 million has been rejected and the clubs coming to terms on Van Hecke is not linked to Vuskovic’s future.
It was reported on Tuesday that Spurs also want to sign Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United, though the Magpies’ £100 million price tag could be prohibitive.
In FourFourTwo ’s opinion, acquiring Tonali this summer will be a stretch for Spurs, with that rumour believed to be driven by the player's agent, but the capture of Van Hecke is a forceful statement of intent in its own right.
Brighton will take the loss in stride. Former managers raiding their old club is nothing new for the Sussex club, who have seen a host of players and staff walk a well-trodden path to Chelsea in the last few years.
Selling well and identifying younger replacements is a huge part of the challenge for top Premier League clubs now. Brighton are demonstrably better at both than most.
Chris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review . He supports Coventry Sphinx.
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