Brighton have rejected two Tottenham bids for Jan Paul van Hecke, and they are not moving cheaply. Paul Barber said the club have already turned Spurs away twice, while Brighton are also asking for £50 million and doing so with the defender in the final year of his contract. That is a firm stance for a player with growing market interest and a club still thinking about Europe.

Why Brighton are holding their line

Barber was blunt about the scale of the interest. "There's always going to be a lot of interest in our best players, and certainly in the case of Jan Paul. We've been very clear that that interest has been ongoing for a while, it's coming from multiple sources. Yes, we have rejected a bid from Tottenham over the last week or so, in fact, two bids," he told goal.com.

He also made the wider point that Brighton will only sell if the move fits the club. "From that point of view, it has to be right for us as well as the player," Barber said. "We have to be in a position to make the best trades to suit our model and also to make sure that we're supporting Fabian, because he's got another big season ahead of him."

That is a pretty clear position. Brighton finished 7th with 53 points and a +9 goal difference, so they are not bargaining from a position of weakness. The message is that Brighton can keep their best defenders, or at least price them properly, while they try to balance a squad for the Premier League and Europe.

Why Tottenham are pushing

Spurs' interest is easy to understand. Tottenham finished 17th, conceded 57 league goals and lost 17 of their 37 Premier League matches. Those numbers explain why another centre-back is being treated as a priority.

There is also a fair case for Van Hecke himself. Sandro told the Standard that he likes the Brighton defender because he is "ready" and "mature", adding that he showed that under Roberto De Zerbi. That kind of profile suits a club trying to fix its back line quickly rather than taking a long-term project.

The problem for Spurs is that Brighton are not acting like a club under pressure to sell. With two bids already refused and a £50 million valuation in play, they are treating Van Hecke as a premium asset, not a sale they have to force through. If Tottenham want him, they will have to go a lot further than the first two offers.

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