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Tottenham’s £34m ace admits Liverpool boss Arne Slot wanted to sign him
Considering the route he has taken to the top of the European game, Thursday’s Europa League clash with AZ Alkmaar could have been an emotional one for the Tottenham Hotspur star.
He might have made his name in the Bundesliga before joining Spurs in a £34 million deal during the summer of 2023.
But if Micky van de Ven really caught the eye in Wolfsburg, it was at AZ Alkmaar where his journey to North London began.
Van de Ven represented the Eredivisie outfit as a teenager, while his father continues to live in an Alkmaar postcode.
But, speaking as Tottenham prepare to host AZ in their third Europa League encounter of the season, the Dutch defender insists that, after AZ let him go long before he was ready to make his professional bow, there is not much of an emotional connection between himself and Thursday night’s opponents.
Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven opens up on Arne Slot talks at AZ Alkmaar
“To be honest, it’s not very special for me to play against AZ,” Van de Ven tells , released by The Cheese Farmers before maturing at FC Volendam. “My father lives in Alkmaar but, other than that, I don’t have anything special with AZ.
“I did an internship at AZ a long time ago, but I didn’t make it. Apart from that, when I was in the youth team at Volendam, they never showed any interest.”
Van de Ven does admit, however, that a return to AZ could have come about after establishing himself in the Volendam XI.
Arne Slot was in the Alkmaar dugout at the time.
The now Liverpool boss turned AZ into Eredivisie title challengers – they were level on points with Ajax before COVID curtailed the 2019/20 season – shortly before guiding Feyenoord to domestic glory.
“After my debut year in the first team of Volendam, there was serious interest from AZ,” Van de Ven adds. “I had a conversation with Arne Slot, who was at AZ at the time. They wanted to take me over and I was open to that.
“But I soon noticed that Volendam did not want to let me go. I quickly forgot about that.”
Ange Postecoglou delighted by Van de Ven improvement at Spurs
Van de Ven, by his own admission, is something of a late-bloomer.
Officially the fastest Premier League player since records began, the 23-year-old Van de Ven has even been labelled a centre-half answer to Tottenham legend Gareth Bale after he breezed through Manchester United to produce an assist for the ages as Ange Postecoglou’s side cruised to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
“With Micky, fair to say he developed late but very quickly,” Postecoglou says of his jet-heeled number 37. “Because I think, even at Volendam, there was a period when they were unsure about him.
“You could tell once physically he grew and the kind of player he was, his journey went very quickly at Volendam and the year he had in the Bundesliga he adjusted really well.
“For us last year, he was outstanding in his first year in the Premier League. Obviously he had an injury which set him back a little bit but he’s growing all the time. Maturing. And I think he will become more of an influence at national team level.
“He’s now played a couple of games at left-back, left centre-back. The more he plays with the national team will give him even more belief but he’s going very well and I’m sure he’ll be an important member of our team but also the Dutch international team.”
Van de Ven was exceptional as Tottenham side down to ten men from the first few minutes hammered Qarabag on matchday one. Pape Sarr and Brennan Johnson then secured all three points away to Ferencvaros last time out.