Pochettino dismisses Toby Alderweireld contract concerns

We told you there was nothing to worry about. Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was directly asked about the Highly Important Tottenham Player Situation Du Jour in a press conference ahead of Spurs’ FA Cup semifinal match against Chelsea this weekend: the kerfluffle over Toby Alderweireld’s contract. He said, essentially, “this is dumb.”

“Speak with Daniel. Some clubs are interested in some players. It’s very clear they need to go and knock on the door of Daniel Levy.

“When a player leaves the club, it’s always our decision. It’s a club decision. I think all of our players have contracts for the next 2-3 years, minimum.

“We’re not worried about our players.”

This issue raised its head again after Italian journalist Gianluca DiMarzio stated that Toby has a purchase clause in his contract, and that he was refusing to sign a new deal with Spurs. However, as Jake Meador explained yesterday, that release clause only kicks in if Spurs opt to invoke another clause in his contract to extend his deal for an additional year past when his contract expires in 2019.

Spurs have two years to get Toby to the negotiating table, and even if it takes that long by that point he’ll be 30 years old. Even if Spurs do opt to trigger the one year extension, the release clause is £25m, which is about twice what Spurs paid for him, and he will have spent the vast part of his peak performance years with Tottenham Hotspur.

So any concerns about potentially losing Alderweireld – to Manchester United or anywhere else – this summer can probably be assuaged. Toby isn’t going anywhere, unless Spurs get an absolutely stupid money offer. And possibly not even then.