Jan Vertonghen Praises Tottenham Teammate Nacer Chadli: We Are Finally Seeing The Real Player

Tottenham defender Jan Verthonghen believes his compatriot Nacer Chadli is finally proving his worth at White Hart Lane during the start of the new campaign - after a debut season in the Premier League to forget.

The Belgium international winger moved to North London last summer after Spurs paid Dutch club Twente about £7m (€8.8m) as part of the huge summer overhaul which followed Gareth Bale's departure to Real Madrid.

But the 25-year-old forward failed to prove to then manager Andre Villas-Boas he deserved a place in his line-up and made just 15 Premier League starts both under the Portuguese boss and Tim Sherwood during the whole campaign.

The winger was indeed tipped to leave the Spurs both during the January transfer window and in the summer, but he opted instead to stay at White Hart Lane in order to overcome his career at Spurs.

Chadli has taken Mauricio Pochettino's fresh chances to prove he has what it takes to thrive at the Premier League, becoming the club top scorer during the start of the campaign after scoring four league goals in six starting appearances.

Vetonghen has hailed his compatriot, praising how he managed to overcome the situation, and backs him to keep up the good run in coming games.

"It's great that he's growing. He's a very good player and it's a shame he couldn't show what he is capable of last year but now we're seeing the real Nacer," the centre-back said to Tottenham official website.

"We already knew from his performances for Belgium what he was able to do so I'm pleased for him and the Club."

Nevertheless, Chadli may see his sensational start to the season stopped after he suffered a hip injury whilst on international duty this week.

The winger helped Belgium to a 6-0 victory over Andorra in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier but was then forced to miss the draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday and it is still uncertain whether he will be able to face Manchester City on Saturday.