Tottenham Hotspur comprehensively thumped Everton at Goodison Park last weekend by a 3-0. However, the joy and excitement of the win are slightly subdued, with the news that star defender Toby Alderweired could be looking for a way out. (Telegraph)
And just like the case of every other player, it is the agent who is throwing these barbs. The Belgian defender’s agent says that his client deserves a correct contract from the club.
He even has gone on to state that the player would be open for a transfer if right terms are not offered by Tottenham. This is not new from the player’s camp as reports earlier in the summer indicated that many top clubs are interested in his services.
Speaking to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Alderweireld’s agent, Stijn Francis said (as quoted by Telegraph):
“Toby is always good. Even after his injury he recovered well. Tottenham’s statistics fell sharply during his absence. If you only look at his figures, Toby is impressive and for his performances, he deserves either a correct contract from Tottenham or a transfer.
“For a transfer, you know that he can only leave Tottenham for seven or eight teams and almost all the other top clubs are interested in Toby.
“There are not a lot of central defenders of his kind, so they are sought after. But those clubs also know that they have to negotiate with [Tottenham chairman] Daniel Levy.”
The Belgian has a £75,000-a-week deal with the club that runs until 2019 but has an option of taking an additional year of the extension. However, there’s a little catch because the extension comes with a £25million release clause, which could be triggered during the summer of 2019.
Where does that put the Lilywhites? Surely, Alderweireld is an important player in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans, after establishing a successful partnership with Jan Vertonghen.
However, Spurs are aware of this interest and have taken the right measures in this summer window. Signing Davinson Sanchez is being looked at as a measure to cover the base just in case Alderweireld leaves.
But that doesn’t mean the club is eager to take him off the books. There is every effort being made by Spurs to extend the contract and negotiations are going on. It is the noise from the player’s camp that’s stalling the negotiations. Manchester City are interested in the player as Pep Guardiola sees him as a long-term replacement for Vincent Kompany.
Do you think Toby Alderweireld’s agent is spicing up interest just to get a favourable deal?
https://youtu.be/2-kdwauZyCQ
Whatever is going on the fact remains that Levy should do all that is needed to keep Alderwiereld at the club for the long term. It would be madness to let him leave.
Alderweireld will receive a new contract. At this point it is only Francis (who a few weeks back billed himself as Alderweireld’s “advisor”) who is trying to get attention by screaming. I doubt if he is Alderweireld’s agent and Toby would be mad to hire him. Francis obviously has neither negotiating skills nor any sense of timing. I suspect he is trying to find an agents contract; but has no idea what he is doing. At the moment he is an embarrassment to Toby. Sports hacks who listen to this nonsense and write about it are well advised to not quit their job at the car park. Regurgitating this garbage is not journalism.