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Former Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has completed a move to Benfica.
The 33-year-old Belgian international left the North London club last month when his contract came to an end after making over 300 appearances for them.
He had been linked with a host of clubs, including Roma, Inter Milan, and Napoli, with former club Ajax also showing an interest in signing him again. However, it is Benfica who have won the race to sign him, and he has signed a three-year deal after competing a medical with the Primeira Liga side.
Benfica finished second in the league last season, five points behind the eventual champions Porto. That means that they need to get through a qualifying round first if they are to take their place in the group stages of next season’s Champions League.
Vertonghen’s old shirt number at Spurs, five, has been given to new signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who has signed from Southampton.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.