Tottenham summer signing ‘like Erling Haaland’ with Ange Postecoglou influence

Tottenham have their very own Erling Haaland in defence in the shape of Micky van de Ven, according to the very man responsible for bringing him to the club this past summer. Leonardo Gabbanini stepped up to fill Fabio Paratici’s shoes as an interim sporting director at the end of last season.

The Italian initially joined Tottenham in July 2022 as their new chief scout after Steve Hitchen and Brian Carey departed. But he was then given the responsibility of stepping up to fill Paratici’s role heading into an important summer transfer window for the club.

He worked with Postecoglou and Daniel Levy in a whirlwind five-month period before his exit in September to further his career elsewhere. However, Gabbanini’s short stint as the club’s sporting director looks set to have a long-term impact on Tottenham’s future goals.

He played a key part in the signings of James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie and Van de Ven. All of those summer signings have made immediate impacts on Tottenham’s fortunes as they currently sit top of the table.

While Maddison has stolen the headlines for the creativity he’s added to Tottenham’s midfield, Van de Ven has also emerged as one of the finds of the summer. He didn’t come cheap as Spurs coughed up an initial fee of £34.5million, potentially rising to £43m.

But he’s already proving worth his weight in gold for Postecoglou and Gabbanini has revealed part of the reason he wanted Tottenham to sign the Dutchman was because he saw a bit of Manchester City superstar Haaland – a player he once scouted during his youth days – in the defender. He told The Athletic: “When we have a player like Van de Ven, it’s not as simple as, ‘He’s tall and fast’. We have to predict the future.

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“You need to be sure when (decision makers) start to say, ‘I don’t know, the price is high, he’s young, not in the national team’. Your job is to be there and say, ‘No, go ahead. He will achieve great things’. And this is the thing I’m most proud of at Tottenham, because I didn’t fight for obvious players.”

Gabbanini added: “He’s [Haaland] big, he’s fast, he’s angry. And this is also what I saw in Van de Ven. I say he’s like Haaland, but a centre-back. So maybe I failed to get one but I’m happy we got the other.”

Gabbanini holds no hard feelings towards Tottenham after they decided to move in a different direction after the transfer window, with Johan Lange being appointed as Paratici’s effective replacement. The Italian is now studying for a licence he needs in order to become a sporting director in his home country.

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