Jan Vertonghen, Ajax: Season 2011-12 

In 2003, Jan Vertonghen joined Ajax from Belgian side Germinal Beerschot. He signed a contract with the youth academy and started playing for the reserves of the Dutch team. In the season of 2005-2006, he became known for a bizarre accident in the game against SC Cambuur for the KNVB Cup. This game was his first ever home game for Ajax in the Amsterdam Arena and he "scored" to make the score the 3-0. He attempted a backpass to the goalkeeper of Cambuur while a team-mate was receiving treatment, but accidentally scored from 50 metres. The goal was obviously unintentional and Ajax allowed the visitors to score a goal in return.

In pre-season of the 2006-07 season, Vertonghen was promoted to the first-team and featured at times. The technical staff were happy with his performances, and the young defender stayed in the first-team squad for the first half of the season. In the second-half of the 2006/07' season, he was loaned out to RKC Waalwijk, who were at the time, struggling to stay in the Eredivisie. He played twelve matches for them, scoring three goals along the way, but unfortunately, Waalwijk were still relegated to the second tier of Dutch football.

In the 2007-08 season, Vertonghen won his starting place in the first-team due to an injury sustained by Thomas Vermaelen. In that season he played 31 games, commanding the centre-back performance, and was rewarded with a contract renewal until the 30th of June 2013.

Ajax changed coaches in 2009 and under Martin Jol, Vertonghen kept his place in the starting line-up. With the departure of Vermaelen, fellow Belgian Toby Alderweireld became Vertonghen's partner at the back, and the fans loved it! In December 2010, Frank de Boer was appointed as new Ajax manager and Vertonghen was one of the key players. He turned down offers from clubs as FC Barcelona, Newcastle United, AC Milan and Manchester City in the 2010-2011 season, as he had a very strong campaign and impressed many European sides. Vertonghen became champions with the Dutch side, which meant their 30th title in the club's history.

In 2011-2012, the Belgian defender proved himself again, being one of the best players and demonstrating his versatility to cover multiple positions. Named as the club captain by De Boer, he led his team to their second title in a row. He scored eight goals in 32 matches and was named Eredivisie Player of the Year. Throughout this season Vertonghen was linked to different clubs and he publicly expressed his desire to join English club Tottenham Hotspur, which he eventually did.

On the 12th of July, Tottenham announced that they had signed Jan Vertonghen and he played his first minutes in a friendly against Brentford just two days later. He scored his first goal for the English team against Carlisle United in the Football League Cup (now Capital One Cup). His first league goal was in a 2-3 win against Manchester United, away at Old Trafford, though this was later ruled to be an own goal by Jonny Evans. Vertonghen was named Premier League Player of the Month for March 2013 after his strong consistent performances. The Belgian was named in the 2012-2013 PFA Team of the Year, joining Rio Ferdinand, Leighton Baines and Pablo Zabaleta in defence. 

Since the start of the start of the 2014-2015 season, Vertonghen appeared to be out of favour by new Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino. The manager did not give Vertonghen a lot of game time, preferring Younes Kaboul and Federico Fazio at the back. Although the defender still has a contract until 2018, he won't be signing a new contract at the English club. In September 2014 his agent had talks with the club and he was close to signing a new deal, but Vertonghen admitted he won't be signing. "I'm not signing, no, we agreed not to. I would prefer not to say why. I still have four years left. I am happy at the club and I think they are happy with me. That’s where it ends," he said back then.