In recent weeks, speculation surrounding Micky van de Ven’s Tottenham Hotspur future has dominated the back pages.
The Dutch international missed the trip to Anfield after his straight red card against Crystal Palace but is all set to return to the squad for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg clash against Atletico Madrid.
In the meantime, there were rather outrageous claims on social media that he told ones close to him that he doesn’t care about the club’s current predicament, as he’s leaving anyway.
And now, Van de Ven has rubbished those claims in a passionate rant as he joined Igor Tudor for the pre-match press conference.
Van de Ven very much focused on Tottenham
Van de Ven has been hesitant to renew his contract amid Tottenham’s slippery slide in the Premier League, leading to interest from Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona, among others.
To make matters worse, his performances on the pitch haven’t been close to his usual standards, which has led to a lot of criticism.
Now, obviously, constructive criticism is alright, but there was a wild claim from a podcaster that Van de Ven has already decided to leave Tottenham, due to which it was reported that he downed tools.
The Dutch international addressed the situation directly, describing all the chatter around his future as ‘nonsense.’
“Of course, I’ve seen things [written],” said Van de Ven in his press match press conference.
“Reporters just say things sometimes and it’s like how did you come up with this? Like players have switched off. It’s not true. They say players are going to leave either way.
“It’s just nonsense and people start believing it.
“The other day, when we read that one guy told the rest of the team that he doesn’t care because he’s leaving anyway. It’s like, how does this come out? It’s just made up. And the fans will believe it. It’s just frustrating for us guys.”
Van de Ven set to return to starting XI
With Cristian Romero back in training for Tottenham after missing the last game, Tudor’s squad suddenly looks a lot stronger, particularly at the back.
Kevin Danso produced a fantastic performance against Liverpool and could keep his place at the heart of the backline, with Romero set to replace Radu Dragusin.
Read More: Ex-PGMOL chief says VAR made huge blunder that cost Tottenham against Liverpool
If Tudor opts to stick with the 4-4-2 formation that worked against Liverpool, don’t be surprised to see Van de Ven slot in as a left-back in place of Djed Spence.
To be fair to Spence, he fared quite well at Anfield, but the Dutchman is one of the leaders of the Tottenham squad and has a point to prove after a rather underwhelming run by his lofty standards.
