Tottenham star Van de Ven opens up on heartbreaking reason he wears No.37 shirt
Tottenham centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he chose to wear the No.37 shirt in memory of his friend who passed away when he was younger.
The Dutchman joined Spurs for £43million from Wolfsburg last summer and he quickly established himself as a crucial first-team player before suffering a hamstring injury in November. Van de Ven returned to the starting XI for the trip to Manchester United last month and has since played the last three matches.
After his arrival to north London, van de Ven raised eyebrows when he decided to select the No.37 when a selection of more traditional defensive numbers were available, such as No.6. However, the 22-year-old has now confirmed he picked the number for sentimental reasons.
He said: "With a friend of mine, he passed away when we were younger, and it was always his favourite number. So when I had the opportunity to choose No.37 when I signed for Tottenham... to be honest, it's for him."
Van de Ven is not the first player to adopt a different shirt number for sentimental reasons. Donny van de Beek took on the No.34 at Manchester United in tribute to former Ajax starlet Abdelhak Nouri, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a pre-season game with Werder Bremen and was left with brain injuries which ended his career. Joel Veltman did the same at Brighton, while Justin Kluivert followed at Roma.
Antonio Conte to undergo surgery after Spurs boss became unwell with severe pain
Ange Postecoglou has transformed Tottenham's fortunes since joining the club last summer. He has turned Spurs into playing a fast, attacking brand of football but one which is also collecting results. The north London club currently sit fourth, eight points off leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table.
Tottenham moved above Aston Villa and into the Champions League places after their 3-2 win over Brentford on Wednesday. Spurs could move further ahead of Villa in the race for the top four with a win at Everton in the Saturday lunch-time kick-off.
Micky van de Ven has impressed for Tottenham this season (Getty Images)Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou said: "It's a tough venue. The supporters there really get behind their team. Even though their results have dropped off a bit recently, even when they played us here it was a really tough game. It's going to be a physical game.
"We're going to have to be up for those kind of things. It's a short turnaround, with the lunchtime kick-off after a Wednesday night game, all those things are potential impediments for us performing but again, going back to my earlier answer, those are the kind of challenges the players have risen to in showing the character and belief.
"We've gone to some pretty tough venues away from home and we've performed pretty well. We're going to have to again because it's going to be a tough game."
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