Tottenham Hotspur are facing the devastating exit of Micky van de Ven unless a huge statement is made by the club over the coming months, with sources revealing how Premier League rivals Liverpool are ready to make a stunning swoop.
The north London club are in turmoil at the moment, sitting 14th in the Premier League table having won just one of their last seven games, with boss Thomas Frank clinging on by a thread and facing the sack on a game-by-game basis.
Indeed, our sources have provided an update on the Dane’s future, while a separate report claims that Tottenham has asked a legendary figure to take charge in north London.
And, while much of the focus at Tottenham is currently on the dugout, there are also growing concerns that top stars will look to leave – if there are signs that the club is continuing on a downward trend.
One such player is centre-back Micky van de Ven, with a speculative report on Sunday claiming that Liverpool are preparing a €90million (£78m, $104.1m) bid for the Netherlands star this summer.
With that in mind, we asked trusted insider Dean Jones to dig into the Van de Ven to Liverpool reports and what Tottenham need to do to keep their star centre-back from potentially demanding an exit this summer.
The answer was very clear, as Jones told us: “Tottenham risk seeing their fears of losing Van de Ven intensify unless a new elite manager is in place by next summer.
“The Dutch defender has not yet agreed a new deal and is believed to have delayed the issue while Thomas Frank has been in charge.
“He has been one of the few players to show spells of consistency and decent form this season, but Tottenham face losing him if their season is not salvaged as he has been unconvinced by the project.
“He has also become aware of opportunities that may lie elsewhere. Liverpool’s interest is genuine, while Real Madrid are also keeping an eye on how things play out.
“Spurs did not anticipate having to bring in a new boss this season but have had to start drawing up options because of Frank’s shortcomings.
“Sources indicate that Spurs would push the ceiling in terms of the type of manager they would seek to succeed Frank, and identifying true candidates is part of the reason they have been delaying a decision on whether to sack him.”
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Tottenham a tougher sell to elite manager
While pushing the ceiling is exactly what Tottenham’s hierarchy have to be doing, the lure for a big name to come to the white half of north London is certainly not what it once was.
Yes, the stadium and training facilities are world-class but the current first-team squad is way off that level and needs significant investment over multiple windows.
Any elite-level manager taking the job would have to be fully on board with the challenges that he would face, while there also needs to be alignment across the club over the time needed to turn things around.
Indeed, whoever eventually gets the role, should Frank be shown the door, this summer will be a pivotal one to make sure quality signings are acquired but, more importantly, that the likes of Van de Ven are convinced to stay.
For the time being, though, the under-pressure Frank will be at the helm again for Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund.
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