OPINION
Tottenham announced that they had triggered an option for centre-back Jan Vertonghen on Tuesday and many fans are delighted.
The option keeps Vertonghen at Spurs until the summer of 2020 and that means the soonest he can talk to other clubs is January 2020.
The Club can confirm that we have activated the option to extend @JanVertonghen’s contract until 2020.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 18, 2018
Without triggering the option, he could have spoken to overseas clubs about a pre-contract deal in January.
After the bombshell of Man United sacking Jose Mourinho and speculation that Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino was their new number one target, this news was welcomed by Tottenham fans, although some want the club to offer him a new, longer contract, and not just effectively run down his existing one.
That’s not entirely fair. Tottenham have a year’s option and it would be odd not to trigger that and leave some time before deciding how long to offer the 31-year-old.
On his current form though, it would seem that he’s done enough to earn one.
Here are the best reactions to the official news:
Get in, fantastic news!
— THFC Fans (@THFC__Fans) December 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/quelfaleiro2/status/1075062347486687233
https://twitter.com/ACorsicaVince/status/1075074509349244928
SUPER JAN VAMOOSSSSS!!! #COYS
— x| (@AmpayChupe) December 18, 2018
Great news, What a defender this guy is.
— Mark Jones (@MarkJon63282801) December 18, 2018
awesome new for spurs ….
— Daniel Clark (@DanielC79385261) December 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/rich20101982/status/1075066525256728576
https://twitter.com/White_Hart_Spur/status/1075060421831389184
Activating it is actually a bit of a worry, signing a new contract until 2022 would be something to be pleased about
— David Coster (@davidcoster) December 18, 2018
Super, Super Jan…
One of the best in the world. #COYS
— Mike (@HotspudFC) December 18, 2018