Manchester United are interested in signing Toby Alderweireld at the end of the season and will continue to monitor his future at Tottenham, claims the Manchester Evening News.
Alderweireld has just returned from a three-month injury absence but doubts have been cast over his future after being left out of Tottenham’s squad for the second match in a row.
The Belgium international was not considered for Saturday’s 1-0 win over Arsenal despite declaring himself fully fit in the build up and Mauricio Pochettino has left the 28-year-old in London ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Juventus in Italy.
Pochettino has already moved to deny any breakdown in relationship with Alderweireld and insists he is just easing the defender back into first-team action following the longest injury lay-off of his career.
However, there is a feeling that there are rumblings of unrest behind the scenes as Alderweireld seeks to be made one of the club’s highest earners in order to commit his long-term future to the club.
Alderweireld’s current £50,000-a-week deal is due to expire at the end of next season but Tottenham have an option to extend his contract by a further 12 months, although that would also make a £25m release clause active in the summer of 2019.
Jose Mourinho is now keeping a careful eye on the Tottenham star as he plots to revamp his defensive options following some shambolic displays at the back from the likes of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.
No outfielder averages more accurate long balls per Premier League game than Alderweireld (9.1) this season.
