Tottenham fans slam 'pathetic and embarrassing' Daniel Levy after Jan Paul van Hecke claim

Tottenham fans have slammed former chairman Daniel Levy on social media after it emerged that he had privately mocked their impending signing of Jan Paul van Hecke.

Levy was always a divisive figure in North London after taking over as Spurs' chairman in 2001 and holding the position for 24 years.

He was relieved of his duties by the Lewis family last September, with reports at the time claiming that their decision had come out of the blue for the 64-year-old.

Many Spurs fans were pleased to see him depart after he was constantly blamed for their poor spending in the transfer market.

Levy is yet to speak publicly about leaving Tottenham, but it was revealed on Wednesday that he had messaged talkSPORT host Simon Jordan about the fee they are about to spend on Van Hecke.

Ben Foster pointed out the message that Levy had sent to his close friend live on air, with the former chairman seemingly insisting that Spurs have overpaid for the Dutchman, after a £52million deal was agreed.

His verdict on the move has, unsurprisingly, not gone down well with Tottenham fans across social media.

Spurs fans slam Daniel Levy for Jan Paul van Hecke verdict

Roberto De Zerbi has been targeting several defensive additions this summer after guiding Tottenham to safety last month.

Brighton star Van Hecke is set to follow Marcos Senesi through the door in the coming days, with reports stating that Spurs will pay around £52m for the 26-year-old.

In the talkSPORT clip posted to X, Jordan explained that he had messaged Levy to say that the figure was extortionate for a player in the final year of his contract, to which he agreed.

Many Tottenham fans have fumed at their former chairman's verdict, with one taking to the site to say: "What Levy thinks isn’t relevant anymore...pathetic and embarrassing at this stage."

While another said: "You can’t watch this video and not hate Daniel Levy...I honestly can’t even hate Thomas Frank, because you set managers up for failure with cheap loan deals and bang average players just to show some financial expert rubbish…what's there to gloat about?"

And one supporter added: "This clip shows exactly why and how Levy was holding us back. He was solid on the infrastructure front, downright incompetent on football front. Glad he’s gone."

What has De Zerbi previously said about Van Hecke?

Tottenham may have paid over the odds for Van Hecke, considering his contract situation, but at least they are clearly backing their manager after years of issues in that regard.

Sources told Football Insider last week that De Zerbi was pushing to sign Van Hecke after the centre-back featured 50 times under him during their time together at Brighton from 2022 to 2024.

He has sung his praises on several occasions in the past, with one particular quote that reads: "I think the most important quality of JP is the balance between the arrogance and the confidence in himself. He is not arrogant but his confidence in himself is high, high, high.

"It is his secret to keep this level because he has an incredible personality, shows incredible leadership and he is so young. It's not common to see one young player with that level of personality.”