It is no surprise that Vertonghen is a part of this list, because the Belgian is not just a fabulous defender, but is also extremely gifted with the ball at his feet. When Vertonghen joined Tottenham from Ajax in 2012, he hit the ground running and had a fabulous season that earned him a place in the PFA Team of the year. However, his form dipped in the next two years, but like a true champion, the Belgian has returned to his best. He is the backbone of Tottenham’s recent defensive discipline and he was also instrumental in Belgium reaching third place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
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Even though he shies away from the limelight, Vertonghen has been the stand out star in the Spurs defence in recent times. He has the most interceptions, clearances and aerial duel won among the defenders at his club. He has also completed the most passes and take-on among his defender teammates. The reason for this is simple, Vertonghen is tutored in the ball playing ethics at Ajax and is a talented footballer who reads the game very well.
Vertonghen possesses the dribbling skills of a midfielder and even though he has restrained himself from his old habit of venturing forward on an adventure every now and then, he still is very good on the ball and also likes to run the game from deep, spraying passes and trying to set up his teammates, qualities that make him one of the best ball playing center backs right now.
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About the author
Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
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