The Belgian has officially played his last game for Spurs and will leave the club after eight years together.
Duo
Often seen alongside countryman Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen’s reputation as one of the most reliable Premier League defenders has been self in tatters.
Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino trusted the former Ajax man less and less as he got older and older and the 33-year-old has been reduced to 101 minutes of action in the last nine top flight games.
This is a seminal moment in the transformation of this Tottenham Hotspur side. The men who swashbuckled and then plain buckled under Poch are slowly being shuffled out the exit door.
Late
You could argue it’s coming seasons too late, but eventually everything comes to pass and this is no different.
Christian Eriksen is away. Vertonghen, too. Danny Rose probably won’t play for Spurs again, while Victor Wanyama has departed to America. The building blocks Pochettino used to fuel his exciting project are being dismantled but Vertonghen’s exit seems the most significant of them all.
For years and years the whole side was built upon the Belgian axis but after 315 games it’s all gone.
Struggle
It’s not like Tottenham have sourced anyone better. They went down the tried-and-tested route by signing Davinson Sanchez from Ajax, Vertonghen and Alderweireld’s former side, but the Colombian hasn’t really settled or even proven his ability as a top-class Premier League player.
Juan Foyth was supposed to be the next one of the production line, but the Argentine has impressed even less than Sanchez and won’t be trusted to fill Vertonghen’s void.
Replacement
Mourinho has a few problems to deal with and defence is certainly one of them. He’s lost a strong voice in the dressing room and a man of huge experience.
If he wants to build a side anywhere near as good as peak-Poch, he’ll need to find his own Vertoghen and quickly.