Reports: Premier League superstar to force move to Manchester United
What's the rumour?
Manchester United's desperate hunt for a centre-back has been covered extensively over the course of the last month. With Claude Puel ruling out a deal for Harry Maguire, United are now left with just two options- Toby Alderweireld of Tottenham Hotspur and Yerry Mina of Barcelona.
Now, according to The Mirror, Toby Alderweireld is ready to take drastic measures in order to ultimately end up at Manchester United. As per the report, Alderweireld is ready to run down his contract, reject all other offers and then leave for United next summer.
In case you didn't know...
Toby Alderweireld struggled with injuries and the subsequent contract squabbles resulted in him starting only 20 games for Tottenham Hotspur in the 2017-18 season despite being widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.
Spurs' valuation of the big Belgian stands at £75 million and Manchester United have deemed it to be far too high for an ageing defender.
The heart of the matter
Earlier this week, Jose Mourinho had said,
"I am confident I will get one [new player], but I think two I am not going to get - which is not a drama."
"In every pre-season it happens the same, with every club, which is that the manager wants more.
"It's our nature, you always want more for your team, but then club decisions are different and normally you don't get what you want, which happened during all my career.
"So, if I get one player until the end of the market, that's fine."
Signing a centre-back is of utmost importance to Jose Mourinho. Currently, the only world-class defender he has is Eric Bailly with all the other defenders on United's payroll being susceptible to errors.
It remains to be seen whether Jose Mourinho, who wants Alderweireld this summer, will be willing to wait until the next to land him.
With Alderweireld marshalling the backline, Spurs got the best defensive record in the Premier League- shared with Manchester United.
Alderweireld's current contract runs till 2019. It also has an option to be further extended. However, extending the contract comes with its own problems. If they activate the extension, then Toby Alderweireld will have a release clause of £25 million.
Rumour rating/probability: 4/10
The Mirror isn't the most reliable of transfer sources. Also, for Alderweireld who will be 30 years old by the time next summer rolls up, it doesn't look like a wise decision to sit back and run down his contract when he is already frustrated at Tottenham Hotspur. So take this one with a pinch of salt.
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What's next?
Anything can happen over the course of the 2018-19 season and if this move is going to happen, chances of it happening this summer are way higher than chances of it happening in the next. But that'll only happen if Tottenham Hotspur are willing to lower their valuation of Toby.