All eyes were on the Netherlands defender at the World Cup as Tottenham Hotspur attempt to sign him from Brighton & Hove Albion
Jan Paul van Hecke made his World Cup debut for the Netherlands amid Tottenham's attempts to sign him from Brighton in this transfer window.
The Premier League transfer window officially opened on Monday but Spurs have already had a couple of bids rejected for the 26-year-old centre-back who is well known to Roberto De Zerbi after rising to prominence under the Italian during his time at the Seagulls.
Van Hecke only has 12 months remaining on his contract but Brighton are renowned for getting high transfer fees for their players. There have been suggestions that the south coast club value the Dutchman at as much as £70million despite his deal with them running into its final year.
The defender has said while on international duty that he has had clarity over his future and appeared to hint towards a move to north London but any attempt to sign him before his World Cup kicked off has now passed after Van Hecke played the full 90-plus minutes in the 2-2 draw with Japan on Sunday evening.
The centre-back had a mixed night on his tournament debut with some strong passes and challenges, but was also unfortunate when Keito Nakamura took a deflection off him into the net for the first of Japan's two equalisers. He also took a boot to the face, just beneath his right eye, while making one header which grew more swollen as the game wore on.
With plenty of eyes on Van Hecke, who was playing in a Dutch backline that featured Spurs defender Micky van de Ven at left-back, here's how the media rated both the man Tottenham want to sign and the rapid one they already have.
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Goal
JPVH: "Solid showing from the Brighton centre-back. Unfortunate to deflect Nakamura's drive into the bottom corner." 6
MVDV: "Used his pace effectively to make a couple of recovery challenges, but doesn't look wholly comfortable at full-back." 5
LiveScore
JPVH: "Involved in ball circulation and made headed clearances. Deflection off him for Nakamura's equaliser may have wrong-footed Verbruggen." 6.5
MVDV: "Pace useful in recovery situations but positional discipline tested. Booked in stoppage time for fouling Junya Ito." 6.2
Sports Illustrated (with Fotmob ratings)
JPVH: "Won in the air seemingly every time Japan dared float crosses into the penalty area. A dominant performance in the heart of defence." 7.2
MVDV: "Constantly made runs down the left to bypass Japan’s press and did well containing the dangerous Ritsu Doan. Things got dark for him late when Junya Ito entered the game." 6.4
Algemeen Dagblad
JPVH: "De Zeeuw stole some hearts again with his tenacity. Van Hecke even walked off the pitch with a black eye. In doing so, he shows himself to be a versatile man-marker. One who does not shy away from duels and is also comfortable on the ball, although he could have taken quite a few more risks at times. A frustrated Gravenberch felt the same way just before half-time. Nevertheless, Van Hecke gave Brighton even more reason to continue demanding a huge price tag for Tottenham Hotspur." 6.5
MVDV: "An identical performance to the one against Uzbekistan. Van de Ven was very valuable with his speed. Correcting occasionally, breaking through occasionally. However, just like against the Uzbeks, he should have done more to prevent the late equalizer. The Spurs defender allowed his direct opponent Kamada to escape to the near post far too easily." 5
Vavel
JPVH: "Very defensively solid against a tricky Japan forward line. The majority of attacks the Japanese forward line tried to muster, the Brighton defender was calm and composed on every occasion, winning duels and comfortable spreading play into forward areas." 7
MVDV: "Not his natural position playing at full-back, but the Spurs defender was solid for the most part, especially in aerial duels and using his pace to cover ground. Did all the basics right for the most part but slightly out of his comfort zone." 6
Chase Your Sport
JPVH: "Was decent in defence but played a part in Japan's equaliser." 6.5
MVDV: "His pace was really impressive, but nothing much more than that in terms of performance." 6.5
ESPN NL's two pundits
JPVH: 6 and 6.5
MVDV: 6 and 6.5
Sofascore
JPVH: 7.4
MVDV: 6.4
Athlon Sports
JPVH: 7
MVDV: 7
Yahoo Sports
JPVH: 7