Tottenham Hotspur have had their fair share of players over the years that established themselves as firm fans favourites.
One of those that did just that was Jan Vertonghen, with the Belgian defender making 315 appearances in total for Spurs in his eight-year spell with the club.
The 33-year-old left Spurs in August 2020 in favour of a move to Portuguese side Benfica, who have been competing in the Europa League this season.
Vertonghen and his Benfica team-mates took on Spurs’ arch-rivals Arsenal in the competition on Thursday evening, as they played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their tie, which means that there is plenty to play for in the second-leg.
Was it a mistake to let Vertonghen leave?
YES 100%
NO WAY
He certainly looked to make his mark on the game from early on, as footage emerged of Vertonghen tackling Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka just five minutes into the match.
Spurs took a sizeable step into the next round of the Europa League on Thursday themselves, as they beat Austrian side Wolfsberger AC in their match on Thursday, with Heung-Min Son, Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius all getting on the scoresheet for Jose Mourinho’s side in a 4-1 win.
A number of Lilywhite supporters took to social media to react to the footage of Vertonghen’s crunching tackle on Saka in Benfica’s match against Arsenal in midweek.
Take a look at the best of the reaction from Twitter below…
“Still miss him like crazy.”
“Love you, super Jan!”
“What a tackle.”
“Agent Jan.”
“Love it.”
“Superb.”
“My Belgian King.”
“Legend!”
“I miss him every day.”