Tottenham Hotspur are set to switch their attentions to arguably the club’s best player when it comes to handing out the next lucrative new contract, after midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur put pen to paper on his new deal in north London.
Spurs did not specify the length of Bentancur’s new deal, referring to it instead as “long-term” for a player who has made 122 appearances for the club since joining from Juventus in 2022.
The 28-year-old started as Tottenham ended their 17-year trophy drought by beating Manchester United in the Europa League final last season.
Bentancur, who will have received a significant rise on his old £75,000-a-week deal, told the official club website: “I feel really good and I’m very happy to continue my story with this fantastic club.
“My family are happy; I have fantastic friends and team-mates who work hard every day. I love this club and feel really good here.
“Winning the Europa League was a fantastic moment and we want to build on this now, to win more trophies.
“We have a new head coach, a new captain (Cristian Romero) and I want to enjoy many more years at the club.”
Meanwhile, Spurs boss Thomas Frank, who TEAMtalk revealed on Thursday played a big role in keeping Bentancur on board, added: “I’m extremely happy that Rodrigo has committed his future to the club.
“It shows his belief in what we are building here and that we are starting a journey which we hope will be really special.”
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Van de Ven next as Tottenham look to keep suitors at bay
Another star who looks poised for a bumper new deal is outstanding centre-back Micky van de Ven, amid rumours that the likes of Real Madrid and even Liverpool are eyeing up the Netherlands star.
The 24-year-old is currently outside of the club’s top 10 list of biggest earners, earning £90k-a-week, but that looks set to change in the very near future judging by the club’s new approach following Daniel Levy’s exit.
New skipper Cristian Romero became the joint-top earner at the club when he penned his new contract back in August, while Levy was still at the helm. However, it’s reported that The Lewis Family are now broadening their horizons in order to try and attract top talent to north London going forward.
Keeping your best players certainly helps in that regard, with Van de Ven forming one of the best central defensive partnerships with Romero – when both players are fully fit and firing on all cylinders.
The duo are set to start again in Saturday’s Premier League trip to Leeds United, if Romero overcomes the slight knock that kept him out of the Champions League trip to Norway in midweek.
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Thomas Frank looks set to bow to the will of many Tottenham fans and make two bold changes to his starting line-up for Saturday’s lunchtime trip to Leeds United, one of which will likely please the home support too.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised over Tottenham’s signing of Xavi Simons over the summer after a tough start to life in north London, but TEAMtalk feels much of the blame for his struggles so far is on the club and also, to a lesser extent, Thomas Frank.