Roberto De Zerbi was crucial in Jan Paul van Hecke signing for Tottenham Hotspur, describing him as his ‘son’ when Johan Lange broached the prospect of pursuing his signature earlier this year.But before Van Hecke was considered part of the Italian’s family, he was something of a problem student.“At the beginning, (we argued) because he had such a way of playing, and I needed to get used to it,” Van Hecke says, reflecting on their time spent together at Brighton & Hove Albion between 2022 and 2024. “Sometimes you’re getting out of playing, and then sometimes you’re arguing over some things.”Van Hecke spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Blackburn Rovers, where he earned their player of the year award and was considered one of the best defenders in the Championship. He might have expected to be competing for a starting spot immediately at Brighton the following term, De Zerbi’s first in charge after replacing Graham Potter in the September, but as he mentions, it took a while for the newcomer to trust him.After an uncomfortable teething period, Van Hecke broke into the team in the latter part of that season, earning his first league start in a 2-2 draw with Leicester City in the January after impressing in a 5-1 away win against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup earlier that month. He remained a bit-part player as Brighton marched to a club-record sixth-placed finish and Europa League qualification, but established himself in the 2023-24 campaign.Having started out at each other’s throats, Van Hecke was one of De Zerbi’s favourites in his second season.He described the Dutchman as a “great player”, who had made an “incredible” and “surprise” development into a key starter, and one of the Premier League’s brightest centre-back prospects.While De Zerbi was, and is often, keen to credit his rapid progress to the player, Van Hecke laid the plaudits at his coach’s door. When De Zerbi left Brighton in the summer of 2024, he wrote on Instagram, “Gaffer, thank you very much! You changed my life! I’m really thankful for what you did for me. I’m really upset you are leaving.”Van Hecke became a key player at Brighton under De Zerbi (Glyn Kirk/Getty Images)Having “changed (his) life”, to quote Van Hecke, it’s no wonder Tottenham stole a march on London rivals Chelsea to secure his signature this summer — demonstrating the sheer pulling power of their magnetic coach.“But I think that’s a nice thing in football,” Van Hecke continues. “In the end, the manager wants the best, and the player wants the best, and then you push each other to the next level.“We still speak about it sometimes now. He’s joking about it, like, ‘Do you remember our first few months?’ And then you see what happens.”While De Zerbi may have added the final flourish, this was a deal Tottenham had been working on long before his appointment in late March. Van Hecke was identified as a priority target for this window last summer, with Spurs alert to an attractive market opportunity as his contract entered its final 12 months.