With three arrivals already through the door and a fourth almost complete, Tottenham could continue to build their squad with the signing of defender Micky van de Ven.
With Ange Postecoglou in charge, the Spurs manager has wasted no time to add to his squad this summer, having already brought three players to north London before the beginning of July. After making Dejan Kulusevski's deal permanent and signing James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario, Manor Solomon will make the move to Spurs following a loan spell at Fulham from Shakhtar Donetsk last season.
The defence is the next section of Postecoglou's side that needs strengthening, and Van de Ven is a reported target for the Lilywhites this season. The defender has been linked with a move to Spurs following a promising season with Wolfsburg, though Liverpool are also interested in the 22-year-old.
So, if Spurs were to sign Van de Ven, could the Dutchman help improve the Spurs defence? Let's take a look.
READ MORE: Tottenham's perfect matchday squad vs Brentford with Edmond Tapsoba and two further new signings
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to arrange for Van de Ven to join the Lilywhites in the summer transfer window, using FM23 to run the simulation. We then simulated the entire 2023/24 season to see how the 22-year-old could perform.
Van de Ven became a regular in Spurs' side from the go under Postecoglou, with the Dutchman making 41 appearances, only two less than Cristian Romero who made the most appearances for Spurs in the 2023/24 season. In his 41 games, the defender grabbed seven assists and four Player of the Match awards, the third-most in the side behind James Maddison and Harry Kane.
No defender at Spurs averaged a great rating per game, but Van de Ven's was the highest (7.07), with Eric Dier (7.02) the only other defender who averaged a rating above seven. Ben Davies and was also regularly used, whilst Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez struggled for game time.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Spurs XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what Spurs' best XI looked like at the end of the 2023/24 season as predicted by Football Manager 2023:
Full Spurs best XI (4-4-2): Vicario; Porro, Van de Ven, Romero, Davies; Maddison, Skipp, Bentancur, Richarlison; Kane, Son.
After his impressive first season at Spurs, Van de Ven made the best XI, partnering Cristian Romero at the back whilst Ben Davies and Pedro Porro occupied the full-back roles. A change in formation saw Postecoglou favour a 4-4-2 in the simulation, and the formation worked a treat.
James Maddison and Richarlison started on either wing as Dejan Kulusevski missed out, leaving Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son in a partnership up top that saw the two score a combined 48 goals across all competitions. 26 of Kane's and 18 of Son's came in the Premier League, with the two attackers helping Spurs to a fantastic fourth-placed finish in the Premier League.
Spurs secured a Champions League position pretty comfortably, finishing eight points clear of sixth place despite winning just two of their last six games. 23 wins, six draws and nine losses saw Postecoglou's side pick up 75 points, 15 more than last season as they jumped four points higher in the table.
The change in formation saw Spurs end the season as the league's second top scorers with 70 goals, but despite the attacking improvement, they still had the worst defensive record out of the top eight. Postecoglou's side failed to win a trophy in the simulation as well, being knocked out of the FA Cup in the semi-final and the Carabao Cup in the Fourth Round.
Overall, FM23 predicts that if Van de Ven were to make the move to Spurs, the defender could help better the Spurs defence as Postecoglou's side returned to the Champions League. The Dutchman was the best-performing defender at the club, and one more defensive addition alongside the 22-year-old could see the Lilywhites improve even more.
Who would you keep or sell at Spurs this summer? Have your say below!
