Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld downplays speculation over summer exit

In accordance with the player's current contract, Tottenham will be powerless to stop Alderweireld leaving this summer if another team offers £25m for him

Toby Alderweireld has insisted that he is “only focussed” on giving his best on the pitch, when asked about the possibility of leaving Tottenham Hotspur for his £25million release clause this summer.

Tottenham will be powerless to stop Alderweireld leaving this summer if another team offers £25m for him more than two weeks before the end of the transfer window. This is the consequence of Spurs triggering the option to extend the defender’s contract for one more season, which they did this week.

Spurs spent years trying to tie Alderweireld to an improved deal to the one he signed when he joined the club in 2015. But that new deal was never agreed, and there was brief interest from Manchester United in signing him last summer. Now it is very difficult to see Alderweireld remaining at Spurs next season, unless there is no real interest in him, or he refuses to move.

But Alderweireld has been a consistent performer this year, despite the fact he missed the whole second half of last season. And when asked about his future in the aftermath of Spurs’ 1-0 win over Chelsea last night, Alderweireld insisted that his commitment to Spurs was never in doubt. He said that he would be happy to stay, now that Spurs have exercised that option in his contract, and that for as long as he was at the club he would continue to do his best.

“I’m very happy to stay another year,” Alderweireld said. “It was [a clause] in my contract and I’m happy Spurs gave me the confidence to stay another year.”

Even though all the talk for the remainder of this season will be about Alderweireld potentially leaving, he insisted he would never be distracted from performing on the pitch.

“I am only focussed on things on the pitch,” he said. “People can see every time I play that I give 100 per cent for this club. This is what I keep doing every time I play. This is my fourth season and I’m very happy. I'm doing everything to help the team.”