Tottenham are one of those clubs that seems to court drama. Even their transfers rarely pass without some kind of emotional roller coaster on the way.
So we shouldn’t be surprised to hear mixed reports coming out in relation to the future of Toby Alderweireld. The Belgium international has been linked to Tottenham for some time and we had assumed that they would get a deal over the line this week. Indeed,The Times opined Sunday:
Tottenham agree deal to sign Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid
Tottenham Hotspur are expected to win the race for Toby Alderweireld, the Atletico Madrid defender, after agreeing a transfer fee that could rise to £11.5million.
But reports today suggest that Southampton are digging their heels in with regards the rights to the player. The Daily Mail states:
Southampton believe they are entitled to sign Toby Alderweireld after Atletico Madrid fail to cancel £6.8m buy-out clause as Tottenham agree £11.5m fee for defender
Apparently The Saints had a clause that meant they could buy the defender for £6.8m once his one year loan deal at the club ended this summer.
The will of the player will surely ultimately decide this one and we still think that he will end up at Tottenham. But it’s yet another messy scramble. Hopefully it will end well for Spurs, who probably need another top centre back more than anything else for their team right now.
If they do complete the deal we don’t think that they will look back because Alderweireld is a top player who could get into many to most sides in Europe. At 26 he has 5 or 6 top years left in the tank.
Tony
Jul 7, 2015 at 6:53 pm
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH