Club Brugge star Hans Vanaken has been backed for a move to the Premier League, with it believed he’s better than Tottenham’s Dele Alli.
Vanaken has long been linked with a move to England, having established himself as one of the stars at Brugge in recent years.
West Ham are known to be admirers of him and have been linked with a move in the last few transfer windows but have never made it happen.
In the meantime, Vanaken has continued to impress, with three goals and one assist in seven games in the Jupiler Pro League so far this season.
That’s seen him earning plenty of praise, and the latest to join the chorus are former teammates Onur Kaya and Jelle Vossen, who used Tottenham’s Dele Alli as an example to compare Vanaken.
“I have never seen such a big player with such a technique,” Kaya told Sport/Voetbalmagazine.
“The special thing about Hans is that he has the footwork of a player of 1m70. You can say that it is not nice to watch, that he is a bit slow, but he has an extraordinary intelligence.
“To be honest, I think he is stronger than a Dele Alli at Tottenham. He’s skinnier and less pretty to look at, but for me, he has his place at 16 of the 20 Premier League clubs.
“All footballers want Hans in their team because he sees everything on the pitch and is always available,” added Vossen.
“His image of a nonchalant player, who is not explosive and does not want to work or put his foot down, is just a prejudice, a negative perception.”
Now, quite why these two players have used Tottenham’s Alli as the example is anyone’s guess given his performances in recent years.
Perhaps he was just the first name to mind, or they simply wanted to use an example of a tall player who is also creative.
Either way, it seems he could have competition in that regard in future, so perhaps he should take comfort from the fact he’s prettier than his Belgian counterpart.
