Tottenham have had an opening offer for Jan Paul van Hecke rejected by Brighton & Hove Albion, sources have told ESPN.
Brighton value their centre-back at between £60 million and £70m, while Chelsea are tracking the situation and Liverpool have also been credited with an interest in him.
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi worked with Van Hecke when he was with Brighton, and they had a good working relationship.
Jan Paul van Hecke has been targeted by Tottenham. Getty Tottenham currently count on Cristian Romero, Van de Ven, Radu Dragusin and Kevin Danso as their options at centre-back. Van Hecke has one year left on his Brighton contract.
Van Hecke is among the Netherlands' crop of defenders in their World Cup squad alongside Tottenham's Micky van de Ven, Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, Arsenal's Jurriën Timber, Chelsea's Jorrel Hato and Manchester City's Nathan Aké. He has 10 international caps so far.
He has played in the Premier League since 2020 when he arrived from Dutch Eredivisie side NAC Breda.
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De Zerbi helped Tottenham secure their Premier League survival on the final day of the 2025-26 season with a 1-0 win against Everton, which condemned West Ham United to the final relegation spot.
The Italian head coach had been brought in at the end of a tumultuous season after Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor had both been sacked.
Tottenham have finished 17th in each of the past two Premier League campaigns.