Micky van de Ven

Micky van de Ven (born 19 April 2001) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays primarily as a centre-back for  club Tottenham Hotspur and the Netherlands national team. Regarded as one of the best young defenders in the world, Van de Ven is known for his incredible pace, aerial and tackling ability.

Early career
Van de Ven began his career with FC Volendam, and made his first team debut against Jong PSV in the Eerste Divisie, going on to make 19 appearances during the 2019–20 season. He assumed the captaincy during his first full season and scored twice in 26 appearances as Volendam reached the promotion play-offs.

Van de Ven transferred to German club VfL Wolfsburg in 2021 for a fee of £3.15 million and played all but one of the team's Bundesliga matches during the 2022–23 season, scoring his only goal in a 2–0 win against Borussia Dortmund. Van de Ven recorded the highest top speed of any defender in the Bundesliga that season, at 22.3 mph.

Tottenham Hotspur
On 8 August 2023, it was announced that Van de Ven had signed a six-year deal with English club Tottenham Hotspur. The transfer was reported to be in the region of €50m, equality with the club's record fee for a centre-back in Cristian Romero the year before.

Van de Ven debuted on 13 August during the first matchday of the 2023–24 Premier League season, starting in an away match against Brentford. On 7 October 2023, he scored his first goal in English football in Tottenham's 1–0 win at Luton Town.

On 6 November 2023, Van de Ven was substituted with a hamstring injury during a game against Chelsea. He returned from injury in a 2–2 draw with Manchester United on 14 January 2024. Later that month, on 31 January, he was recorded as the Premier League's fastest-ever player at 37.38 km/h since data collection in 2020–21, during a match against Brentford.

On 10 May 2024, Van de Ven was awarded Tottenham's Player of the Season award at the Official Supporters' Clubs award night ceremony, having started 28 of the club's 38 games up until that point.

International career
In October 2022, Van de Ven was included in the preliminary Netherlands squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He captained the under-21 team at the Under-21 Euro 2023.

In August 2023, he received his first official call-up to the Netherlands senior national team by head coach Ronald Koeman, for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

On 13 October 2023, Van de Ven debuted for the Dutch senior squad in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against France, replacing Nathan Aké in the 80th minute.

On 29 May 2024, Van de Ven was named in the Netherlands' squad for UEFA Euro 2024.