Reports: Tottenham Hotspur agree deal for top Manchester United target on one condition
What's the rumour?
It has been a long and difficult hunt for Jose Mourinho and company but it looks like they've finally broke new ground as according to Goal, Tottenham Hotspur have agreed to a deal for Toby Alderweireld. However, they won't let him leave until they find a replacement for him.
With the transfer window closing in 2 days, this could go either way.
In case you didn't know...
Signing a quality centre-back has been on top of Jose Mourinho's priority list and Manchester United have been linked with a raft of defenders over the past few weeks.
But with the deal still stuck in uncertain territory, it is highly likely that the Red Devils will continue to look elsewhere in case Spurs fail to land a replacement for Toby Alderweireld.
The heart of the matter
Toby Alderweireld has been a top transfer target for Manchester United for quite some time now. Alderweireld, who had grown frustrated under Mauricio Pochettino, had seen playing time come at a premium following the breakdown of his contract talks and an injury.
Tottenham Hotspur's initial valuation of the big Belgian stood at £75 million and Manchester United were put off by this. However, the Old Trafford outfit decided to table one final offer and though the fee hasn't been disclosed, it is expected to be considerably lower than Spurs' initial valuation.
United were briefly linked with Yerry Mina but the deal collapsed. They had also enquired about the availability of Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng.
Eric Bailly is perhaps the only trustworthy centre-back that Manchester United currently have on their payroll as every other defender has proven to be susceptible to the odd error.
Rumour rating/probability: 7/10
The chase has been well documented and the circumstances are pretty understandable too. This could really be happening.
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What's next?
Toby Alderweireld is not happy at Spurs and this is a move that would work out in favour of all parties involved. However, as it stands, the deal is contingent on Tottenham Hotspur finding a quality replacement within 2 days. As was mentioned earlier, this could go either way.