Tottenham complete Vertonghen deal

Tottenham Hotspur FC have strengthened their defence with the signing of Belgian international centre-back Jan Vertonghen following a successful medical on Thursday.

Vertonghen, 25, joins the north London outfit from AFC Ajax, with whom he won the Eredivisie title as club captain last season, his impressive performances earning him the player of the year award in the Netherlands. The tall defender, who has 37 caps for his country, made his debut for the Amsterdam club in 2006 after graduating from their youth system and went on to score 23 goals in 155 league games.

Vertonghen also made 42 appearances in Europe for the Dutch giants, experience that could prove invaluable to new Spurs manager André Villas-Boas. The Belgium defender becomes Tottenham's second signing of the summer following the arrival of Gylfi Sigurdsson from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim last week, and will help fill the void in the Spurs rearguard after the departures of Vedran Ćorluka and Ryan Nelsen.

It continues a busy time for the club, following the appointment of former player and Germany Under-17 coach Steffen Freund as Villas-Boas's assistant on Wednesday. Tottenham have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and will learn their opponents in the draw on 31 August in Monaco.