Speaking to Goal at the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Ultimate Grudge Match, the Tottenham centre-back went with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos when asked for the players who had shaped him.

“These four stick in my mind,” he told Goal.

Messi and Ronaldo sit on almost any list of this kind, and Puyol is already on the record as Van de Ven’s childhood favourite. He explained the choice to Gary Neville on The Overlap in an interview widely picked up this year.

“My football idol? Puyol. I really like him, his way of tackling and playing. I also loved the way he led the others to victory.”

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He had less time for a 1990s Arsenal captain

The same event doubled as a Mail Sport segment in which Van de Ven was handed Premier League defenders to sort into Good, Great, Legend and GOAT. He put Vincent Kompany on top, ahead of Ledley King, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Virgil van Dijk in the Legend tier.

William Saliba was ruled out of Legend status on a technicality.

“Nah, he’s not a legend, because he is still playing!” Van de Ven said.

Then came Tony Adams, Arsenal’s four-time league-winning captain through the 1990s.

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“Who?” Van de Ven replied.

Told Adams was an Arsenal and England great, he nudged him into the second tier anyway.

“I don’t know him, so great?”

Van de Ven, who scored a 90-metre solo goal in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Copenhagen in last season’s Champions League, has already said he grew up as a striker.

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