Jan Vertonghen: Tottenham defender says he will not be signing new contract with the club

Belgium defender has four years remaining on his deal

Jan Vertonghen in action for Tottenham against Nottingham Forest last night (GETTY IMAGES)

Jan Vertonghen has revealed that he will not be signing a new contract with Tottenham.

The Belgium defender's deal with Spurs ends in four years, and while he will not be putting pen to paper on a new deal with the club, he says he is "very happy" at White Hart Lane.

Asked about his contract situation, Vertonghen replied: “I am not signing. No. We agreed not to. I would prefer not to say why. I still have four years left. I am happy at the club and I think they are happy with me. That’s where it ends. I am very happy, we have a good manager, we have a good team and a lot of good players. The squad is very big and you have to work hard to play every game, and I hope I am playing again soon.

“It is good [under Pochettino]. He is working well with a lot of videos and individually he talks a lot with the players. He is a manager who expects a lot from players. We work hard and that is good — it will pay off in the end.”

Vertonghen started last night’s 3-1 Capital One Cup third round victory over Nottingham Forest and has featured in five of Spurs’ nine games so far this season, although he was left on the bench for last weekend’s Premier League defeat against West Brom.

“I want to play in the biggest games,” he said. “That is what you are a footballer for. We have a lot of centre-backs now with [Federico] Fazio, with Eric Dier, who is doing very well. Obviously Vlad [Chiriches] and Younes [Kaboul] played at the weekend and we are fighting for two places with those guys. Everyone has to be just that little bit better so that the manager chooses them.”

Spurs were roused from their slumbers last night after falling behind to Forest midfielder Jorge Grant’s 61st minute strike.

Pochettino’s double substitution yielded significant results as both Ryan Mason and Harry Kane came off the bench to score either side of Roberto Soldado’s smartly converted effort. Mason’s goal — a superb 30-yard drive — capped an impressive cameo along with Kane, who proved more effective in 25 minutes than Paulinho was all night