Why Micky van de Ven will fear Roberto De Zerbi axe after Tosin Adarabioyo's Tottenham arrival
Micky van de Ven's role as a Tottenham Hotspur starter has never felt more under threat than it does now.
After conceding 57 goals in the Premier League last season, Tottenham transfer chiefs have put a big emphasis on bolstering the backline this summer.
Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and now Tosin Adarabioyo have all made moves to N17.
Spurs' defence has shipped five goals from their opening two Premier League games this season, however.
Van de Ven played the full 90 minutes in Tottenham's most recent 2-0 defeat to Newcastle last weekend.
And with competition for places in central defence now fierce, the Dutchman should be looking over his shoulder nervously.
Why Micky van de Ven needs immediate Tottenham improvement
Van de Ven is a quality defender; there are few who would debate against that.
However, the 25-year-old isn't perfect either, and there isn't enough spaces to go around to accommodate everyone in Roberto De Zerbi's XI.
As per FotMob, Van de Ven is currently ranking in the bottom 15.7 percentile for all Premier League centre-backs for his 9.7kilometeres covered per 90 this term.
On top of that, he also places in the bottom 37.3 per cent for his 4.00 duels won per game and the lowest 35.3 per cent for his 2.00 aerial duels won per 90.
His 1.00 tackles, 8.00 defensive contributions, 1.00 interceptions and 2.00 fouls per game rank him in the bottom 33.3, 35.3, 43.1 and 7.8 percentiles too.
If Tottenham are to avoid another relegation battle this season, then De Zerbi can't afford for one of his centre-backs to be posting these sort of numbers.
But how do they stack up against Tosin's from his most recent 2025-26 campaign with Chelsea?
Why Van de Ven should be worried about Tosin transfer
Joining on a permanent deal on deadline day, Tosin has joined Tottenham in a rare transfer between the two London rivals.
The 28-year-old turned out 35 times in all competitions for the Blues last season, with 16 of those coming in the Premier League.
Per FotMob, he did only cover an average of 3.1km per game in the Premier League in 2025-26.
However, the Englishman did rank in the top 7.8 percentile for his 6.62 duels won per 90 and the leading 3.3 per cent for his 4.68 aerial duels won per game.
In addition to that, he averaged 11.1 defensive contributions, 1.94 tackles, 1.03 interceptions and 0.68 fouls committed per game: all better than Van de Ven's numbers.
So, whilst some Spurs fans may simply see Tosin as a backup player, his underlying numbers suggest he could be a very real threat to the likes of Van de Ven in the starting XI.