How Jan Paul Van Hecke's move to Spurs potentially bodes well for Newcastle

Newcastle United had previously shown an interest in Brighton defender Jan Paul Van Hecke, but it looks as though the Dutch centre-back is now off to Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs are on a mission to rebuild their squad after a couple of woeful seasons and have already moved to scoop up free agents Marcos Senesi from Bournemouth and Liverpool's Andy Robertson.

Now it looks as though Brighton's Van Hecke is heading to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for around £55 million, which is an astonishing deal for Brighton.

In fact, journalist Dimitris Manakos has broken down just how good a deal this is for the Seagulls on X.

With Spurs potentially in for Sandro Tonali, Newcastle should be able to bang out a hugely beneficial deal if Spurs were this desperate for Van Hecke.

How has Brighton done this?

According to Manakos, Brighton have delivered a masterclass in negotiating.

"Brighton have just delivered a masterclass in negotiation with Jan Paul van Hecke.

"Player wanted to leave

"Rejected three contract offers

"Had just one year left on his deal

"Yet Brighton still managed to: Secure a fee of almost £55m. Include a 20% sell-on clause. Control the terms of the deal from start to finish.

"A player heading towards free agency has become the club’s 5th most expensive sale ever. Another case study in smart football business from Tony Bloom and Brighton." 

David Hopkinson needs to channel his inner Tony Bloom

Brighton are famously good negotiators, and they have probably outdone themselves here, but if Spurs were willing to bend to all of that nonsense for a player with a year left on his deal, Newcastle should be primed to exploit their desperation when it comes to Tonali.

Sandro Tonali has four years left on his deal at Newcastle and, despite noises coming from those around him, hasn't indicated to the club that he wants to leave, although it's likely he is open to it if we're being realistic.

As Elliot Anderson's price reaches £130 million, Newcastle should be easily pushing for £100m for Tonali with a nice sell-on clause in there for good measure.

David Hopkinson insists that big sales will be on our terms; well, it's time to go all Tony Bloom and make sure that our terms are really our terms.