Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen admits Mauricio Pochettino and former manager Frank de Boer were both crucial to his development.

Vertonghen played for Crystal Palace manager De Boer at Ajax.

"I've learned a lot from both of them, on and off the pitch," he said. "They were both leaders, both captains during their careers - great leaders then and great managers now.

"I'm blessed that I could learn from them in the probably most important years of my career. I have to thank them for this."

He added: "Last season was definitely my best at Spurs.

"At Ajax, I had a couple of good years as well but it's hard to compare, obviously. On a high level, definitely.

"I had the first year [here] as well, when I scored goals but in the way I performed, I'm very happy and as I said I have to thank the manager for that."