![\"Jan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Jan-Paul-van-Hecke-Arne-Slot-1140x641.jpg\")
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(Credit: Imago, Manh Tung, Breaking Media)<\/p>\n
![\"Callum](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0b51cc5e83eff516a40e917d327dc30e.png\")
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Fri 2 January 2026 17:00, UK <\/p>\n
Jan Paul van Hecke is unlikely to commit to a new contract at Brighton in the near future as he is aware of interest from both Liverpool and Tottenham.<\/strong><\/p>\n That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown<\/a>, who remains very well-connected within the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider<\/strong> that the 25-year-old wants to play Champions League<\/a> football.<\/p>\n Brown told Football Insider<\/strong> on 30 December that Liverpool and Tottenham have been tracking Van Hecke<\/a> and have been impressed by his displays for Brighton.<\/p>\n Fabian Hurzeler<\/a> is keen to keep his best players at the club long-term, but with the Seagulls dropping to 14th in the league, the centre-back wants to play at a higher level.<\/p>\n While it is highly unlikely that a move will take place in January, it has been labelled one to watch in 2026, with his future at the Amex now uncertain.<\/p>\n Brown told\u00a0Football Insider<\/strong>\u00a0last month that\u00a0Tottenham could accelerate their move to sign Van Hecke<\/a>\u00a0in 2026, having held long-standing interest.<\/p>\n The former scout, who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment after over a decade at Man United during their most successful period, insisted that Brighton may soon be forced to cash in on the centre-back.<\/p>\n MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not convinced he will want to stay at Brighton,\u201d he told Football Insider.<\/strong> <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got the bright lights of the Champions League in his mind now, and it\u2019s hard to turn that down especially when Brighton are struggling a bit.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve lost some key players and dropped of a bit from where they were when he signed.<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool have been keeping an eye on him because of their situation, and if he becomes available for whatever reason, they may well make a move.<\/p>\n \u201cTottenham also want reinforcements and he\u2019s somebody who\u2019s been on their radar for a while.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Brighton keep struggling like they have been recently, then that opportunity might come up, and it\u2019s certainly one I think will appeal to him.<\/p>\n \u201cSay Liverpool come in for him, I think he\u2019d want to join them rather than staying at Brighton.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it happens in January, I\u2019m not sure, because Brighton don\u2019t want to lose him and especially not mid-way through the season, but he\u2019ll be one to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Van Hecke is among Liverpool\u2019s defensive targets<\/p>\n Football Insider<\/strong>\u00a0revealed\u00a0Liverpool want to sign a new centre-back in January<\/a>\u00a0and are assessing a number of options for the role.<\/p>\n Liverpool are targeting a number of left-sided defenders, notably including\u00a0Marc Guehi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Alessandro Bastoni<\/a>, while they have also been linked to\u00a0Nico Schlotterbeck<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Van Hecke has emerged as a right-sided option, which would allow the Reds to leave Virgil van Dijk in his usual position in the back line.<\/p>\n Brown told Football Insider<\/strong> that Van Dijk could play a new role under Arne Slot<\/a> and move to the right if a left-sided option arrives at Anfield this month.<\/p>\n However, targets in both positions are being targeted, with the Reds doing their due diligence ahead of what is likely to be a big-money move.<\/p>\n For more Liverpool and exclusive news, follow us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or join our brand new\u00a0WhatsApp Channel<\/a>\u00a0for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credit: Imago, Manh Tung, Breaking Media) Fri 2 January 2026 17:00, UK Jan Paul van Hecke is unlikely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[1169,748,393,4884,174877,179,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-669550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-brighton","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-jan-paul-van-hecke","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115827026604124131","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Brighton](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Jan-Paul-van-Hecke-Brighton-1024x576.png\")
Credit: ImagoJan Paul van Hecke could leave Brighton after contract news<\/p>\n![\"Brighton](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Fabian-Hurzeler-1024x655.jpg\")
Credit: Imago<\/p>\n![\"Arne](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/arne-slot-5-1024x732.jpg\")
Credit: Imago<\/p>\n