Toby Alderweireld has urged Tottenham to lean toward Premier League-tested defenders this summer, naming Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi and Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke as the kind of signings he believes can steady the club immediately. The former Spurs centre-back said both players already know the division, a point he sees as crucial as Tottenham reshape their back line.
His comments land as Tottenham continue to work through a busy window and after the club confirmed the free transfer of left-back Andy Robertson on Friday. Alderweireld, who made 236 appearances for Spurs and won six league titles across three countries in a career that also took in three World Cups, two European Championships and two Champions League finals, said the side cannot afford another slow start. “They both know the Premier League. That’s good, because I think Spurs now need stability,” he said, adding that next season it is “impossible” for the team to slide back into the “awful” spell he referenced.
That is why Senesi and Van Hecke matter to the conversation now. Senesi was Bournemouth’s player of the season in the 2024/25 campaign, while Van Hecke took Brighton’s award at the end of the same season, and both have the kind of week-to-week consistency Alderweireld wants. He said Tottenham need players who can perform every week, not recruits who will spend months getting up to speed, and he argued that the club should have “a little bit more security” in recruitment rather than chasing names that need time to settle.
Alderweireld used PSG as his example of how a squad can be built with conviction, saying the French champions won the league but not the Champions League and eventually moved on from their biggest names in favour of players with “fire” and the desire to put the team first. He said Tottenham do not need “big players” so much as players with “big hearts who can improve,” and he framed Senesi and Van Hecke as being “on the right direction” for that sort of transfer.
The complication is that the short-term fix could crowd out a long-term one. Luka Vuskovic, 19, is yet to play a competitive game for Tottenham, though he spent a season on loan at Hamburg and was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season. He is due to play at the World Cup this summer, but if Spurs move for both Senesi and Van Hecke there may be no room left for him in the squad. Tottenham can still choose experience over patience, but if they do, Vuskovic could be the first casualty of a defence rebuilt for immediate results.
