Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld in action against Watford. (Getty Images)
According to Daily Mail, Toby Alderweireld has put pen to paper on a new three-and-a-half-year deal to extend his stay at Tottenham until the summer of 2023.
The 30-year-old’s previous contract was due to expire at the end of the ongoing campaign but new Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has moved quickly to secure the long-term future of the Belgian, who continues to be one of the mainstays of the club’s playing eleven, week in week out.
Alderweireld, who was set to be out of contract in 2020, would have been free to discuss a free transfer with other clubs during the January transfer window, but the veteran has now poured cold water on all sorts of speculations over his future by signing a new deal.
The centre-back’s new deal at Spurs means that he is now on wages of £150,000-a-week, a massive hike on his previous earnings of £50,000-a-week (h/t Daily Mail). Alderweireld is only the second Spurs player aged 30 to be handed a new long-term deal this season after Moussa Sissoko agreed to an extension back in September.
The 98-cap Belgian looked set for an exit from North London amidst interest from Premier Leauge rivals Man United but he has now committed his future at the club. Alderweireld has clocked up a total of 179 appearances for the Lilywhites in all competitions since his move to the club from Atletico Madrid back in the summer of 2015.
The 30-year-old has been a key cog in Tottenham’s engine ever since and has been one of the driving forces behind the club’s rise to the European stage in recent years, including a fairytale run to the final of the UEFA Champions League in the previous campaign.
To put things into perspective, it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to figure out that Tottenham have, indeed, struck with a new deal for Toby Alderweireld, who is widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.
The Belgian has been at the centre of a lot of good things that Spurs have achieved over the past four seasons and he still has plenty to offer at the age of 30. A veteran of over 400 career appearances in senior professional football, Alderweireld has shown signs of slowing down in recent times but his experience at the highest level still continues to be a key asset to the club.
Tottenham have already come under scrutiny several times this season for their lack of stability at the back and Mourinho will surely need to reshape the backline in the coming months in a bid to stem the inflow of goals.
To that end, securing the long-term future of Alderweireld certainly comes as a massive boost to the club’s plans and Mourinho, who seems to have a lot of confidence in the Belgian, can now focus on building the defensive unit around him.
With Jan Vertonghen set to turn 33 in April and out of contract next summer, it was always going to be important for Tottenham to retain the services of at least one experienced head at the back. While a contract extension for Vertonghen certainly hasn’t been ruled out yet, Alderweireld has a lot more to offer in the coming days, both on and off the field.
Besides his obvious quality as a central defender and his undisputed status as one of the first names on Mourinho’s team sheet, the 30-year-old’s presence is expected to work wonders for the development of younger defenders like Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth.
Foyth, 21 and Sanchez, 23, still have a lot to learn at the Premier League level and the influential presence of Alderweireld could go a long way towards catalyzing their development.
It would have been a real shame for Tottenham to lose an accomplished defender like him on a free transfer and the fans will be hoping that a new deal for Alderweireld can now influence the likes of Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen to also pledge their future to the club.
All in all, a fresh long-term contract for Toby Alderweireld looks like an excellent piece of business for Tottenham as they look to push on for a glorious era, and possibly a trophy-laden one, under the stewardship of Mourinho.