Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has warned that Tottenham need to ‘throw money’ at Toby Alderweireld or they could see their whole project fall apart.
Belgium international enforcer Alderweireld is embroiled in contract negotiations with the club that have seen no real progress in several months.
Reports are continually surfacing about a potential summer exit for the centre-back, with Spurs not said to be willing to meet his wage demands.
Merson has now issued a stark warning to Spurs that letting Alderweireld leave would be a massive error that could see the whole team fall apart.
Speaking in a column for the Daily Star, Merson said: “Tottenham need to throw money at Toby Alderweireld if their team is to stick together. He is the best centre-half in the world and Spurs just cannot afford to let him go if they want to remain contenders. I’m sure if he had been playing, Spurs wouldn’t have caved in to Juventus.
“This could be the splitting up of a very good team if he is allowed to leave. His team-mates are going to think, ‘Where are we going if we keep losing our best players?’ They let Kyle Walker go. Danny Rose will be next and if Real Madrid want to buy the best centre forward in the world this summer they will be in for Harry Kane. I worry for Tottenham. If they don’t give their top players a wage rise, not just Alderweireld, it could turn into a nightmare.”
Alderweireld has spent much of this season on the sidelines after suffering a serious hamstring tear against Real Madrid in the Champions League group stages.
The 28-year-old is now back in first-team training once again after making a short-lived return to action when he played 90 minutes against Newport and Rochdale in the FA Cup.
OPINION
Merson could be absolutely right here. Spurs are currently sitting on a precipice and the future could go one of two ways. Either they keep all their best players and push on to win that elusive piece of silverware, or one leaves to be followed by several more. Alderweireld has shown himself to be one of the best defenders in Europe while at Spurs and for the club to let him leave over wage demands would be an atrocious piece of business that could, as Merson says, have massive consequences.