Tottenham sign van Hecke from Brighton in £52m De Zerbi reunion
Tottenham have completed the £52m signing of Brighton centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke, handing Roberto De Zerbi a reunion with a defender he already knows well.
Jun 27, 2026
Tottenham have landed their man at the back. The club have signed Netherlands defender Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton in a deal worth £52m, reuniting the 26-year-old with Roberto De Zerbi, the manager who helped shape his career on the south coast.
De Zerbi worked with van Hecke at Brighton between 2022 and 2024 and pushed hard for the move once he took charge at Tottenham. The defender had a year left on his Brighton contract, and the Italian wanted a centre-back who already understood how he asks his teams to build play from the back.
A familiar face for De Zerbi’s rebuild
Van Hecke becomes Tottenham’s third signing of the summer under De Zerbi, and the first the club have paid a real fee for. He arrives as a defender comfortable on the ball, a profile that fits the patient, positional game De Zerbi made his name with at Brighton. For a Spurs side reshaping itself around a new manager’s ideas, a player who already speaks his football language is a sensible early piece of business.
There is a sentimental edge to it as well. Van Hecke spent nearly six years at Brighton after arriving as a little-known signing, and leaving for a London side to link back up with his old coach is the sort of move that suits everyone except the supporters he leaves behind.
A windfall for Brighton’s model
For Brighton, the sale is another vindication of a recruitment approach that rivals have spent years trying to copy. They bought van Hecke from NAC Breda for around £1.8m in 2020 and now bank a fee close to thirty times that. They also wrote a 20 per cent sell-on clause into the deal, taking a fifth of any profit Tottenham eventually make should they sell him on for more. Cashing in on a first-team defender for £52m and barely breaking stride is exactly how Brighton have stayed competitive while running at a profit.
The window does not shut until September 1, so there is plenty of time yet for both clubs to keep shaping their squads. For now, De Zerbi has the defender he wanted, and Brighton have the cheque to go and find the next one.