PSG interested in summer bid for Toby Alderweireld

Now that Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that they will be exercising the option to extend Toby Alderweireled’s contract by a season until 2020, expect a lot of stories linking the big Belgian to other clubs between now and this coming summer. And here’s the first — Matt Law in the Telegraph is reporting that Ligue 1 giants PSG are expressing an interest in a summer bid for Toby that will bring him to Paris.

Toby, as we all know by now, is still on the original contract that he signed when Spurs purchased him from Atletico Madrid. When Spurs activated that one year extension, which keeps him at Tottenham until 2020, it also activated a release clause where clubs can purchase him for £25m when the season is over. Toby turns 30 in March, but he’s still considered one of the best defenders in Europe, and there will probably be a number of teams that could be interested in bringing him in next summer.

According to Law, PSG is hoping to sweeten the deal by offering another Belgian in exchange: Thomas Meunier. This, however, doesn’t seem like it would be a very enticing offer — Meunier is 27 and a right back, a position where Tottenham is already fully stocked. In fact, PSG has already sold Spurs a right back in recent seasons — Serge Aurier. To assume that Spurs would be interested in Meunier is to assume that they are planning on moving on either Aurier or Kieran Trippier, and that doesn’t seem likely at all. Adrien Rabiot would be another option, but that would only happen if Toby moves in January, which is exceedingly unlikely, and Rabiot can leave on a free transfer this summer.

I can certainly believe that PSG is interested in Toby, but I can’t imagine that Spurs would want Meunier as part of the deal. It would be much more likely that any Alderweireld bid would be for the full £25m.