United drop interest in Toby Alderweireld, who will likely report to Tottenham for preseason

Was it potentially too early to say goodbye? There has been some big news coming out in the Toby Alderweireld transfer saga over the past couple of days, highlighted by the Manchester Evening News stating that Manchester United have dropped their interest in purchasing Tottenham Hotspur central defender Toby Alderweireld.

According to MEN, United are moving on to other targets after protracted discussions with Spurs have not resulted in the asking price for Toby dropping to an acceptable level. United scouts have apparently expressed concerns about Alderweireld’s “profile,” and I have no idea what that means either.

So depending on whether you are in the “keep Toby” or “sell Toby” camps, this is either good news or disappointing news. It means that Spurs are probably now in the position of looking to offload him overseas unless another domestic option unexpectedly pops up. PSG has emerged as a potential destination in the past, but nobody’s really sure what PSG are doing as they might sell Kylian Mbappe but are also under a Financial Fair Play cloud.

If you’re an optimist, United backing out could conceivably spark a new round of contract negotiations with Spurs, if Toby and his agent think that they’re unlikely to get a better deal elsewhere. Financially the worst-case scenario for Spurs is that the club hangs on to him for next season, after which he leaves via his triggered £25m release clause.

Either way, it sure looks like Toby’s going to be reporting back to Tottenham for preseason training, according to Belgian journalist Kristoff Terreur. Kristoff tweeted today that Toby expects to do just that unless something new pops up soon.

That doesn’t mean that Toby will be wearing lilywhite when the new Premier League season kicks off, but it does mean that his transfer saga is far, FAR from being over.