Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has admitted that he was surprised with the performances of Davinson Sanchez during the previous campaign despite having prior knowledge over the Colombian’s qualities on the playing field. The 21-year-old became Spurs’ club-record signing after he joined from Ajax last summer and he formed a strong partnership with Vertonghen through the previous campaign.

Speaking after Sanchez, Vertonghen said: “When the rumours were there [about him joining] I spoke to a couple of people at Ajax that I know there and they were very positive about him, a great guy and a great player. So when he arrived I knew a bit what to expect but even then he surprised me a lot. I still remember his debut, I think it was away at Everton, how well he did, how impressive he was. No doubt, no nerves, just like he started playing and he had the same level over the season and it was an unbelievable level. It’s a big compliment to him.”

Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld started as the preferred central defensive partnership for Spurs during the start of the 2017/18 season but an injury to the latter allowed Sanchez command a regular role at the heart of the defence. From therein, the Colombian rarely put a foot wrong in the Spurs shirt and he managed to retain his position even after Alderweireld return from a hamstring problem.

As such, Sanchez has already been rewarded with a fresh six-year contract at the north London club and hopefully for the Spurs faithful, the Colombian can prove the key catalyst in defence as they seek to end their decade-long trophy drought next season. Sanchez is presently with his national team at the World Cup and most-recently featured in the thumping 3-0 win over Poland. Colombia can now qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament with either a draw or victory over Senegal depending on the other game between Japan and Poland.