Liverpool have been tipped to raid Tottenham for one in every of their best players if Spurs are relegated from the Premier League.
Tottenham are only sixteenth within the table ahead of Sunday’s clash against Liverpool at Anfield, one point above the dreaded drop zone.
Spurs have underwhelmed all season and the team’s dismal form cost Thomas Frank his job after just eight months in charge.
Igor Tudor was appointed as Tottenham interim manager until the top of the season however the north London side have lost 4 successive games for the reason that Croatian took over.
Spurs’ embarrassing season reached its nadir on Wednesday night as they suffered a 5-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the primary leg of their last-16 Champions League tie.
Atletico were 3-0 up inside quarter-hour and Antonin Kinsky, who began ahead of No. 1 Guglielmo Vicario, was then hooked by manager Tudor.
Now all but out of the Champions League, Tottenham can focus their efforts on avoiding relegation to the Championship with nine league games remaining.
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Dropping down a division wouldn’t only be humiliating for Spurs, who were competing in a Champions League final not so way back, and an enormous blow financially, but would result in a mass exodus of talent.
Micky van de Ven could be one in every of the more obvious departees given his status as among the finest defenders in Europe and Jason McAteer believes his former club Liverpool could sign him on the low cost.
Van de Ven, who joined Spurs in 2023 in a £43m move from Wolfsburg, has been tentatively linked with a move to Anfield given Liverpool’s need for defensive reinforcements.
The reigning Premier League champions got here agonisingly near signing Marc Guehi last summer after which saw the previous Crystal Palace captain complete a January move to Manchester City.
Asked whether he can see Liverpool making a move for Van de Ven, McAteer said on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: ‘It looks that way.
‘They missed out on Marc Guehi in the summertime, and I used to be just a little bit surprised that they let it go to the winter window to try to do the business.
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‘You mostly bring competition in then; other teams are in search of players in that position, and City have gotten there before Liverpool. I feel they missed out on one there.
‘Leoni got here in firstly of the season; obviously, he picked up the really bad injury, which has set him back, and we brought in Jacquet as well.
‘I do know he’s not coming until next season, but he’s quality, they usually have spent a number of money on him. He might be playing within the team, but they do need one other centre-half.
‘There are a pair on the market, but Micky van de Ven appears to be [on the market].
‘It is going to be interesting to see the way it develops at Tottenham because in the event that they do go down, they might be trying to offload players, and Liverpool might nick him for just a little bit cheaper.’
Ex-Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood also believes Van de Ven could be an appropriate goal for Liverpool.
‘I feel he’s the apparent alternative on that left side, there aren’t lots of those about,’ he added.
‘There’s one other, Jarrad Branthwaite, but he ain’t going to Liverpool, so it opens up the door there for Micky to go in there as a Liverpool player.
‘I feel he’d do well for them, I actually do; he’s got all of the attributes to be a top-drawer player.
‘I don’t think he’s the finished article; he still must develop, but he must play with someone like Virgil van Dijk.
‘Those experienced, good players he can look as much as because he’s not the leader we expect he’s in the mean time, and I feel he must be shown how you can lead.
‘It’s a learning curve, and he’s still learning, but it surely’s an excellent option.’
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