Jan Vertonghen has hailed Lucas Moura in the Evening Standard as an “unbelievable player” after he put Manchester United to the sword and claimed he’s a “nightmare to play against” for defenders.
The Brazil international served notice of his potential at Premier League level with a scorching double for Tottenham in their 3-0 win at Old Trafford on Monday night.
His teammate Vertonghen gave the inside track on what it is like to face the pace and all-round menace of the January signing from Paris Saint-Germain.
“He is a nightmare to play against,” the Belgium centre-half told the Standard. “We play against him every day in training and he’s just a nightmare. He works hard, he has goals in him — left foot, right foot — and so much pace. He’s a great player and an even better guy, so everyone is very happy.
“Obviously, he missed pre-season last year and that’s very important to understand the style of play and having the fitness to cope with what the attackers have to do because they run so much.
“He had a great pre-season this time from what I’ve heard. He’s an unbelievable guy, everyone in the dressing room is so happy for him. I think you could see that. Everyone was hugging him.
“He had a couple of tough years in Paris and last year he didn’t play as much as he wanted. This year, he’s here and he’s an unbelievable player.”
OPINION
Vertonghen is renowned for his straight talking, and his verdict on Moura is intriguing and insightful. Indeed, Spurs fans reading it may wonder why the 26-year-old was rarely seen in the second half of last season given his destructive qualities that appeared obvious to his teammates and those who saw him in training every day. In truth, the Brazilian wing-forward looked off the pace when he joined in January, with his lack of match fitness seemingly the problem after he slipped down the pecking order at PSG last summer following the mega-money arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. Both of those two players would have done the same to virtually every attacker on the planet, and Tottenham could now be the beneficiaries. In Moura, they have a potent attacker who adds something completely different to a front line that has been short of scorching pace for some time.