Tottenham are set to raise their asking price for Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld to £40 million, according to the Telegraph.
The 6’1″ ace [Transfermarkt] currently has a release clause written into his contract that values him at £25 million, but that fee is set expire on Friday.
Unless a club triggers that clause before the weekend, it is understood that Daniel Levy will not entertain offers less than £40 million for the star, who has 12 months left on his current deal in north London.
TiF Tactics – What would keeping Alderweireld mean for Spurs?
When both Belgians are fit and firing, you will struggle to find a more imperious central defensive partnership in the Premier League than Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
Both may be the wrong side of 30 now, and both have arguably seen better years, but when it clicks for the pairing, they are as solid as a rock.
Between them last season, they averaged 2.9 tackles and 8.2 clearances per match, as per Whoscored.com.
Losing Alderweireld would break up that partnership, and while £40 million would give Spurs a good chance of finding a replacement, it would surely be more preferable to keep hold of their man in the first place.
Likely to happen?
You would have thought that if a club were going to swoop for Alderweireld this summer, they would have by now. £25 million is a ridiculously tempting price for a player of his calibre – even one aged 30.
£40 million would still be a steal, but the release clause in his contract has been well-publicised, and any club with a shred of business acumen would surely have been aware of the fact that they would have to fork out a whole lot more if they didn’t get their house in order in time.
That doesn’t mean that there won’t still be interest, especially as clubs begin to get desperate and the transfer deadline looms, but for now, Spurs fans must be feeling relatively confident about keeping their man.
Throw into the mix Daniel Levy’s infamous stubbornness in the negotiation room, and it is looking increasingly likely that the Belgian could be staying put this summer.