What Tottenham stand to lose if they can't persuade Micky van de Ven to stay at the club

[p]Despite not being in quite the same managerial bracket as Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, for example, he spoke with similar authority and purpose.[/p][h2]Tudor spoke with purpose and clarity[/h2][p]Leaning into the narrative of a stronger mentality as a baseline, the Croatian had immediately set his stall out for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Spurs[/a] faithful to see.[/p][p]Whether an expected hard-line approach was going to work against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] or indeed for the amount of time he is definitely in the job, would be shown by success on the pitch. Something that was sorely lacking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/tottenham-UDg08Ohm/?mid=rZAxVdln"]against the Gunners[/a].[/p][embed guid="13da86df-70bf-4726-9a65-fb07a4d402df" url="https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/2023729969491578928" social-type="twitter" /][p]Social media footage, which appeared to show captain for the day, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-de-ven-micky/rotN6HH8/"]Micky van de Ven[/a], ignoring the instructions coming from the technical area, has divided opinion.[/p][p]On the one hand, there's a school of thought that Tottenham's problems are wrapped up in that 25 seconds or so of film.[/p][p]On the other hand, some refuse to believe a manager would be so disrespected and that the footage has been taken out of context.[/p][h2]Van de Ven contract talks halted[/h2][p]Whatever the truth behind that incident, one thing has since become clear, and that is that contract talks with van de Ven have been halted.[/p][p]Reports would appear to indicate that far from committing his future to the club, the Dutchman wants to first help them out of their current struggle to avoid falling into the bottom three and ultimately being relegated, before seeing how the land lies both on and off the pitch.[/p][embed guid="52d2434f-0164-4869-9809-15cd15535e92" url="https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/1966924789278220313" social-type="twitter" /][p]Here is a player, of course, who has watched as both Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank have been and gone, with no apparent improvement to Spurs' fortunes.[/p][p]With a dozen or so injuries to contend with, Tudor has a real battle on his hands just to produce a decent starting XI for the next few games, and that too has to be a consideration when van de Ven and his agents do finally sit down with the powers that be and talk shop.[/p][h2]No need for Spurs to be pressured into selling[/h2][p]The centre-back will still be only 25 by the start of the 2026/27 season, but has a contract that doesn't actually run out until the summer of 2029.[/p][p]Therefore, the Lilywhites aren't under any real pressure to cash in on a player that they signed from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wolfsburg/nwkTahLL/"]Wolfsburg[/a] for £34.5m.[/p][embed guid="f723eb0a-377c-4e19-b16f-d88f26b1afe9" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1687465568792645632" social-type="twitter" /][p]The only reason that they might want to do so is that his current market value is believed to have rocketed to £65m, representing a healthy profit, particularly if Tottenham find themselves in the Championship.[/p][p]From van de Ven's own point of view, he could surely earn far more than his current £90,000 per week wage elsewhere, too. [/p][h2]Superb all-rounder[/h2][p]In terms of what he brings to his team, starting in 83 of his 84 Spurs appearances evidences his importance to them.[/p][p]Rarely can there have been such a physically imposing defender who has the speed he has from a standing start, which allows him to bring the ball out from the back with ease.[/p][image alt="Micky van de Ven pass map - Premier League 2025/26" id="226aea7e-d966-4f80-bc25-59857af9b674" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="60ecb1b6-b9c6-44a6-b635-aa6ebeb229c5" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]His passing accuracy has never dipped below 86.5% since he joined Tottenham - in any competition - and has even gone as high as 96.5%.[/p][p]369 ball recoveries in two and a half seasons is elite level, whilst involving himself in 558 one-on-one duels hints at a part of his game which he clearly enjoys.[/p][image alt="Micky van de Ven Touch Zones - Premier League 2025/26" id="028b56a7-e1c5-4c18-b06e-b3106df64acb" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="d5b75705-4a3d-450a-b2cd-d2d111198126" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]One surprising aspect is that his aerial prowess isn't quite as good as you might expect from a big man.[/p][p]To date, though he has made 150 headed clearances, when it comes to aerial one-on-ones, he has both won and lost 115 during his time in North London.[/p][p]That shouldn't take away from a solid 280 clearances made, and 69 tackles won from 113 attempted, however.[/p][h2]Tottenham have to keep hold of the Dutchman[/h2][p]He has also weighed in with 10 goals - including a goal of the season contender in the Champions League against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fc-copenhagen/hSPZwbEh/"]Copenhagen[/a] - and three assists, which isn't too shabby at all for a centre-back either.[/p][p]With the way football works nowadays often denoting that contracts are not worth the paper they are written on, players do appear to hold all the aces.[/p][embed guid="0fe67cb4-897b-4d3c-86a3-88684719c652" url="https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/1995889745940070839" social-type="twitter" /][p]It's clearly in Tottenham's best interests to keep hold of a defender that might be said to lack certain leadership skills at this point, but who offers a skillset that's difficult to come by at this level.[/p][p]The club's motto, Audere est Facere - To Dare is to Do - is poignant at this point also.[/p][p]Everyone involved in N17 has to get right behind it, to ensure that van de Ven doesn't see his short, medium and long-term future anywhere else.[/p][image alt="Jason Pettigrove" id="92d0fb74-b7d0-4509-a45f-472aaf8bc539" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="13522685-9fb5-4300-bc1e-39552a2484af" original-width="1522" original-height="476" /]