Toby Alderweireld does not want to sign a new Tottenham contract and is likely to quit next summer, according to Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur.
Alderweireld, 28, is one of the only members of Tottenham’s first team not to have been given a contract extension in the past 18 months and his current deal ends in the summer of 2019.
The defender admitted on Friday that he has not even been offered a new contract by the club although he revealed he is happy at White Hart Lane and has expressed his commitment in talks with Mauricio Pochettino.
Terreur, who writes for Belgian publication HLN, told the Transfer Window Podcast: “At this point he doesn’t want to sign a new deal. Everybody in English football knows how Daniel Levy works, he’s not the biggest spending chairman.
“Alderweireld has had two good seasons and knows what he can earn at other clubs.
“He’s seen with team-mates like Kyle Walker what he can earn. He’s 28, he has to think ‘this could be my last big contract’. He wants the big money now.
“They still haven’t offered that new contract. That’s why other clubs are sniffing around.
“He’s not unhappy at Spurs, he likes to work under Pochettino. But if he can get double what he earns at Spurs, about £50,000-a-week, he might push for that move.
“At this point everything points to a move next summer.”
OPINION
Spurs fans did not want to lose Kyle Walker, but losing Alderweireld would be a different matter altogether. The Belgian is more than just Tottenham’s outstanding defender. He is one of Europe’s pre-eminent centre-backs. It is little wonder that the big guns are in hot pursuit. Many White Hart Lane regulars have gone so far as to say the 28-year-old is head and shoulders above every other defender to represent the club in the last 30 years – and that includes the hallowed Ledley King. Tottenham are playing a dangerous game leaving one of their star players in limbo. Alderweireld is irreplaceable and Levy must push the boat out to ensure he stays, even if that means making him their best-paid player ahead of Harry Kane. The alternative is a £50million-plus transfer next summer, which seems increasingly inevitable if he has not penned fresh terms by that point.