The 36-year-old made 314 appearances for Spurs, managing 14 goals and seven assists in the process. During his time at the north London club, he played alongside Eric Dier regularly.
Speaking to the Final Cut podcast, Vertonghen has revealed that the current Tottenham player advised him to join Sporting rather than Benfica, and his comments are relayed by Maisfutebol.
Dier came up through the ranks of Sporting’s academy and spent two years with their first team before joining the Premier League side in 2014.
When Benfica made an approach for the Belgian three years ago, he contacted Dier, which is when the latter tried to convince Vertonghen to pick the Lions over the Eagles.
“I remember I was on the boat in Amsterdam and I received a call from my agent, he told me: ‘Benfica wants to speak to you’. I thought: ‘Okay, it’s a great club, with a great history’. I searched the internet, saw what position they had finished in the previous season, and did more in-depth research,” he said.
“Obviously, I knew some of the players. One of my great friends, Eric Dier, played for Sporting. I called him, asked him what he thought of the Portuguese League, what the lifestyle was. He gave me a very positive answer. He wanted me to go to Sporting (laughs) and I told him that wasn’t going to happen.”
Vertonghen spent two years at Benfica before leaving them for his current club Anderlecht in 2022.
Dier, on the other hand, has lost prominence under Ange Postecoglou and hasn’t yet made an appearance this season. His contract is until 2024 and latest claims have stated that AS Roma and Sporting are interested in signing him.