Tottenham Blow As Man Utd Battle To Sign 28-Year-Old Star

The January transfer window in closed so it’s time to look at those deals that didn’t get over the line and those being lined-up for the summer. Today, the latest on Toby Alderweireld….

Manchester United will need to battle Barcelona if they are to win the race to sign Tottenham centre-back Toby Alderweireld this summer, according to a report in the Mirror.

Alderweireld is regarded as one of the best defenders in Europe having starred for Tottenham since joining the club from Atletico Madrid in 2015 following an impressive season on loan at Southampton.

However, the 28-year-old’s future in north London is in doubt as he has less than 18 months left to run on his current contract and Spurs are no closer to agreeing terms over a new deal.

Tottenham will trigger an automatic one-year extension tying him to the club until 2020 but that new deal includes a clause that will allow Alderweireld to leave for just £25m in the summer of 2019.

It means Spurs are under huge pressure to agree a new long-term contract with the centre-back or face having to choose between selling him at market value this summer or losing him for just £25m the following year.

The situation has alerted Manchester United as they’ve been strongly linked with Alderweireld in recent weeks with the Manchester Evening News reporting recently that Jose Mourinho has made him a key transfer target.

The United boss is expected to overhaul his defensive options this summer with Alderweireld lined-up as a potential replacement for Phil Jones or Chris Smalling – who’ve been tipped to leave Old Trafford.

However, Tottenham and United have now received a blow as the Mirror are citing a report from the Independent that claims Barcelona have joined the race to sign the Belgian international this summer.

Spurs will no doubt be concerned by Barca’s interest as Alderweireld will be tempted by the prospect of playing for the La Liga giants while United know their hopes of signing the defender have also taken a hit.

READ MORE–> Man Utd transfer news | Spurs transfer news

We’ll have to wait and see how things progress over the coming months but if Alderweireld doesn’t sign a new deal with Tottenham soon then it looks like United and Barca are ready to battle it out over his signing this summer.