It really is a miracle that Toby Alderweireld is still at Tottenham. The defender’s £25m release clause has now expired and the Belgian is set to stay at the club, although it looks like Roma haven’t got the message, as the Italian club are reportedly preparing to re-enter talks for the 20-year-old.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, via Inside Futbol, the Serie A side are desperate for Alderweireld to sign this summer and want to reach out to the Tottenham man to convince him to move to the Stadio Olimpico, with ex-Tottenham director Franco Baldini the man tasked with convincing the player.
Should the defender find himself convinced by Baldini then the Italian giants will enter into fresh talks with Tottenham, and the report ends by saying ‘It remains to be seen what Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will do if he is presented with a player determined to leave and who has a contract which has just a year to run.’
That statement might well be true, but both Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy have been stubborn before, with Alderweireld left out of the squad for a large chunk of the 2017/18 season as he went through an off-field dispute with the club over a new contract.
It’s also been claimed by the player himself this summer, via Sky Sports, that he’s prepared to start the new season with Tottenham. All things are pointing towards his stay in North London as a result, although a move to Roma could be a possibility next summer when his current deal expires.
Until then, both the Spurs fans and hierarchy will expect their defender to remain professional and play to his best as they go into the 2019/20 season with hopes of building on their work over the last few seasons and finally winning some form of silverware.