Tottenham to trigger one-year Alderweireld extension

Tottenham will take up their option to extend defender Toby Alderweireld’s contract through to 2020, Mauricio Pochettino confirmed on Thursday.

Alderweireld’s deal was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but the club are set to trigger an automatic 12-month extension to avoid losing him on a free.

The Belgium international was heavily linked with Manchester United following the World Cup, and his new terms are reported to contain a transfer clause which could see him leave for as little as £25million at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Spurs earlier this month made an identical move to tie down fellow centre-back Jan Vertonghen until 2020.

Asked whether the club would trigger their option to extend Alderweireld’s stay, manager Pochettino told a news conference: “Yes, for sure. It is obvious. The same situation as Jan.”

Mauricio: “We are playing with very good quality and to keep the momentum is so important for us.” #COYS pic.twitter.com/u9WGZL2KHC

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 26, 2018

Alderweireld, who joined from Atletico Madrid in 2015, played the full 90 minutes on Boxing Day as Tottenham crushed Bournemouth 5-0 to move up to second in the Premier League.

Their position has been achieved without any off-season arrivals and Pochettino suggested signings would only be made in January if he is able to shed unwanted members of the squad, with Fernando Llorente, Victor Wanyama and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou among those reportedly close to the exit.

“It depends on if players are going to leave, and to have space to sign players,” Pochettino said.

“It depends on players [going] out and then we’re going to see if we can add some quality to help the team. But I think it’s not going to be easy to add players in January. For sure it’s going to be tough to add.

“Until the market is open it’s difficult to talk because now we have a lot of games to play.

“But for sure in January when the market is going to be open that’s the moment when we’re going to talk with different players – players that maybe come to talk with us because they want to leave or they want to play more.

“It’s a normal period that we need to be open and careful about our decisions.”