Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly reached a full verbal agreement to sign Wolfsburg centre-back Micky van de Ven.
The Netherlands Under-21 international had been earmarked as one of Tottenham's top defensive targets as Ange Postecoglou bids to plug the holes in his side's leaky backline.
Wolfsburg are believed to have been holding out for a £40m fee to let Van de Ven leave, though, and Tottenham were initially struggling to reach an agreement with the German side.
Van de Ven's proposed switch to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was seemingly in jeopardy as a result, but Spurs finally made a breakthrough after restarting negotiations.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Lilywhites are now on the verge of signing the 22-year-old after reaching a verbal agreement with Wolfsburg, who will receive a total of €50m (£43.2m).
© Reuters
Tottenham are supposedly set to fork out an initial €40m (£34.5m) to sign Van de Ven, with an additional €10m (£8.6m) in performance-related add-ons.
The Dutchman has apparently given the green light to a five-year deal in North London until the summer of 2028, and he will travel for his medical tests within the next 24 hours.
Van de Ven's move to the Premier League will bring an end to his successful two-year stay at Wolfsburg, where he has scored one goal and set up three more in 41 matches across all tournaments.
Van de Ven struggled to make an impact during his debut campaign in 2021-22, but he started 33 Bundesliga games under Kovac last term, playing as a left-back and centre-back.
The 22-year-old's form earned him a place in the Netherlands' Under-21 squad for the recent Euros, and he played every minute as Jong Oranje were eliminated in the group stage.
Micky van de Ven to Tottenham, here we go! Verbal agreement in place for €50m package add-ons included, Dutch CB to travel in the next 24h for medical ⚪️🇳🇱
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 4, 2023
Contract agreed until 2028, deal done with José Fortes Rodriguez from Raiola.
Wolfsburg set to prepare documents soon. pic.twitter.com/ZE9KyixlzT
The signing of Van de Ven will represent the fifth acquisition of the Ange Postecoglou era, with Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario and Manor Solomon all signing permanent deals this summer.
As well as Van de Ven, Spurs are also expected to wrap up the signing of Blackburn Rovers' defensive starlet Ashley Phillips in the coming days after a £2m release clause in his contract kicked in on Friday.
The duo's arrivals could push a number of Spurs' unwanted centre-backs out of the door, such as Joe Rodon, Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez, the latter of whom is on the radar of Spartak Moscow.
Tottenham have supposedly already accepted a £12.9m bid from Spartak for Sanchez, but the Colombian harbours doubts about a move to the Russian Premier League.
Postecoglou's side welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to North London for their penultimate pre-season friendly on Sunday, two days before they face Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
Ben Knapton
