In the summer of 2023, 23-year-old defender Micky van de Ven joined Tottenham Hotspur from Wolfsburg amid rumours of a move to Liverpool.
Despite this being his first time in the Premier League, he established himself as a mainstay with his menacing speed.
Although he only played 29 games following a hamstring injury, he showed his potential in the limited games he played.
It was hoped that he would be injury-free this season, but he suffered a similar hamstring injury early on and has continued to spend more and more time off the bench.
The Dutch defender, who has been plagued by injuries but has performed at a high level on the pitch, reflected on his past career and confessed that Arne Slot had tried to sign him when he was in charge at AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord.
“Arne Slot wanted to sign me for AZ when he saw me play in the first season at Volendam. The club refused to sell me and I had to accept that they would not let me go…”
“When he was at Feyenoord he tried to sign me, too, but by then I had already signed for Wolfsburg in Germany…”
“Do I think I would be playing for Liverpool now if I would have joined Slot at Feyenoord? That would have been some kind of fate…”
“Slot is doing really well. Liverpool is now a fantastic team and he is showing again what a brilliant coach he is…”
“Every player who has worked under Slot, will tell you great things about him. In the few talks I had with him at the time, I got a great feeling about his managerial style, his coaching and his ideas in football.”
“He really, really sees the game well.”
The Express