Jamie Redknapp believes Tottenham's Micky van de Ven is of a similar calibre to Arsenal ace William Saliba, and will reach the heights of his countryman Virgil van Dijk.
The Spurs ace scored a blockbuster goal in their win over Nottingham Forest but has established himself as a crucial presence in the side's backline. Van de Ven took little time to form a partnership with Cristian Romero after arriving in north London on a six-year deal in the summer for an initial fee of £34.5million.
While the Dutch defender has endured hamstring issues this term, the 22-year-old's cool head and lightning speed has drawn admirers across the Premier League. Redknapp even went so far as to suggest that Van de Ven is already ahead of where Van Dijk was at the same age.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder said: "He’s a fabulous player, 22 years of age, 23 next couple of weeks, quick as lightning, great left foot. There’s not many players I can think of in world football that are better than him at what he does.
"Arsenal fans look at Saliba who’s a great young defender, but I think this guy is equally as good. He’s got everything going for him.
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"You can see the difference when Spurs lost him to his hamstring injuries, I think if he stays injury-free then there is no reason he can’t end up like what Virgil van Dijk has done. When Virgil van Dijk was a similar age, he wasn’t producing a performance like that.
"He’s only going to get better, as long as he doesn’t get too many injuries along the way as that can affect the hamstrings with the speed that he’s got. He’s a top player, he really is."
Micky van de Ven scoring for Tottenham against Nottingham Forest (Offside via Getty Images)Van de Ven is a month younger than Saliba and spent two seasons with Wolfsburg before making the move to Spurs. His French counterpart joined Arsenal in 2019 and enjoyed loan spells wit Saint Etienne, Nice and Marseille become forming a key partnership with Gabriel last term.
Saliba has 13 France caps in comparison to Van de Ven's two for the Netherlands. Van Dijk was 24 before making his international debut and was still playing for Celtic at a comparable age to his Premier League rivals, but become a Premier League legend in his time at Anfield.
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