DH via Sport Witness (h/t Football.london) claims that contract talks between Tottenham and Mousa Dembele have come to a standstill as the Belgian could leave in the summer on a free.

The 31-year-old is out of action with an ankle injury but the midfielder is one of the best we have in the game when fit.

The report claims that the Belgian wants to stay at Tottenham beyond this season but only if he gets a better deal than the current one.

Tottenham are not willing to offer him a deal which would reach the levels of star striker Harry Kane or Hugo Lloris due to his “age and fragility”, according to the report.

The 31-year-old could do a job for us next season and beyond but being injury-prone is a problem certainly. A pay-as-you-play deal would be the best option for all parties and it will be interesting to see if Dembele does agree to stay beyond this campaign.

The midfielder has started just seven Premier League games, and Bleacher Report had suggested that Italian and Chinese sides were interested in the Belgian.

Tottenham have a couple of quality youngsters in the midfield to do a job and we saw Oliver Skipp get his Premier League debut recently.

Read more: Bundesliga star’s agent contacts Tottenham over possible January move

Dembele has a lot of quality and there is no doubting that. Hopefully, we can finalise the right deal to keep him at the club.