Spurs prepare for United friendly, but focus remains on Toby’s clause
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford (left) and Tottenham Hotspur's Toby Alderweireld battle for the ball (pic: Mike Egerton/PA Images). - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
The Belgian has a £25 million release clause in his contract which will expire this week
Tottenham Hotspur will finish their tour of Asia with a friendly against Manchester United tomorrow (12.30pm kick-off UK time).
Spurs travelled out to Singapore last Wednesday initially and will return back to England before the weekend after spending the last few days in Shanghai.
Mauricio Pochettino's team are set to face the Red Devils this Thursday in the International Champions Cup at the Hongkou Stadium.
The Lilywhites will be without a number of players with Hugo Lloris back in London after he returned home early with a bout of tonsillitis.
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Danny Rose, Ben Davies and Eric Dier remain at Hotspur Way, so won't feature, but centre back Toby Alderweireld is expected to play some part again.
While he will be concentrated on trying to stop United's attack from scoring, the focus of others elsewhere may be on his future.
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The Belgian has a clause in his contract with Tottenham which is quite unique and it makes Thursday, July 25 an important day.
After the Lilywhites triggered an extension clause in his deal in January, it meant Alderweireld was contracted with the N17 club until next summer - 2020.
However, the year extension included a £25 million release clause which teams can meet, but they must do before the final two weeks of the transfer window.
With the new Premier League summer transfer window closing on Thursday, August 8. Tomorrow will be the last day in which clubs can sign Alderweireld for £25 million, using his release clause.
Therefore while the defender will continue to be focused on just playing for Spurs, around him a lot of calls could be happening.
To Alderweireld's credit, he has not allowed the issue to effect him and was handed the captaincy for Sunday's friendly with Juventus.
If he plays again, with Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen on the bench, he could be wearing the armband again which would be some statement from Tottenham.
Although the 30-year-old was one of Spurs' best performers in the 2018/19 season, as of yet only Roma have registered a real interest in the centre back this summer.
The Serie A club dropped this earlier in July though, to increase the chances of the former Ajax man remaining at Tottenham.
Should he continue to be part of Pochettino's squad heading into the new campaign, it will be a major boost for Spurs' hopes on the domestic and European front.
