A former scout from Barcelona has made a big claim about Micky van de Ven after the Dutchman’s rise to fame at Tottenham Hotspur.
Van de Ven was hardly on anyone’s radar when Spurs secured him from Wolfsburg last year. In fact, the signing did not even particularly excite large parts of the Tottenham fan base.
However, in the 15 months since, the centre-back’s stock has grown rapidly, and he is now widely seen as one of the best players in his position across the Premier League.
The 23-year-old’s electric pace and his quality on the ball make him a huge asset for Ange Postecoglou’s side and there is no doubt that several big clubs across Europe would be ruing the fact that they did not take a punt on the defender.
Barca’s former scout, Bojan Krkic Sr, has now revealed that he informed the Catalan club to secure Van de Ven as a youngster.
He explained that the La Liga giants had an opportunity to land the centre-back for just €3.5m (£3m) but they were unable to agree a deal.
Speaking about the Tottenham man, Krkic told Carrusel Deportivo: “He was faster than Mbappé. I called them and insisted on Barcelona because we had him for €3.5m (£2.9m). It was not executed in the end.”
Krkic did not reveal when it was that this happened but he had two spells at the club, the second of which was from 2017 to 2020.
It is safe to assume that he recommended Van de Ven to the La Liga giants when he was still at FC Volendam in the Dutch second tier.
At the time, Barca might have felt £2.9m was a steep fee to pay for someone playing at that level, but they would no doubt be kicking themselves at missing out on the deal, given the defender’s rise since.
The post Barcelona turned down chance to sign Spurs star for just £2.9m – Scout reveals appeared first on Spurs Web.
