Tottenham’s pursuit of keeping their best players tied down at the club has gone off well so far. The likes of Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris and Christian Eriksen have all committed their futures at the London club but Spurs seem to have hit a bit of a roadblock when it comes to Toby Alderweireld’s new contract.
The Evening Standard claims that negotiations between the club and player have stalled due to the wage demands from the centre-back. Alderweireld wants to be on the same pay scale as Lloris and Kane, which is rumoured to be close to the £100,000-a-week mark.
The same report also claims that the original contract for the Belgian defender has a clause which will get activated in 2019, when Alderweireld is 30. The clause states that the player can be bought by other clubs for a paltry figure of £25 million, which is a bit low for a player of his calibre.
Alderweireld, reportedly, earns close to £50,000-a-week, which does put him well behind the likes of the top earners at the club and it isn’t a surprise he does want a better deal. There will be a number of clubs who could do with a quality defender and should Tottenham dilly-dally on the deal, Alderweireld could move away.
The Belgian has been one of the best performers for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this season and has formed a great partnership with countryman Jan Vertonghen. Breaking up the duo would be catastrophic for Tottenham, at least for the time being and it is a necessity that the club keeps hold of Alderweireld and get him to sign a new improved contract, which would also remove his buy-out clause.
Alderweireld does seem to be happy at the club and he is playing some exceptional football for the side as well.
Spurs fans will be worried for sure as long as the deal between the two is not completed but Levy is a man who knows what he is doing and it surely is a matter of time before Alderweireld makes Tottenham his home for much longer.