Two rumours that have been floating around the Lilywhites for some time now are that defensive duo Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld are heading for the Tottenham exit door.
This has been no secret for about 12 months now although summer moves for either player failed to materialise and for the former at least, it seems a new contract is in the offering.
Surprisingly, Alderweireld who joined the club from Atletico Madrid after a successful loan spell at Southampton could have left in the summer for just £25 million with Manchester United rumoured to be interested. However, the Red Devils capture of Harry Maguire from Leicester soon put paid to that move and now the 30-year-old Belgian is back with the Lilywhites.
Alderweireld’s Belgian and club teammate Jan Vertonghen’s future has also been uncertain as mentioned above but the 32-year-old is now firmly back in the fold under Pochettino and is eager to extend his stay at the club and continue the ‘project’ with his manager.
Tottenham run a similar contract policy to that of ‘them lot down the road’ Arsenal in that players over 30 tend to only be offered a one-year contract extension.
However, it appears Daniel Levy may be deviating from this stance somewhat after it was revealed 30-year-old midfielder Moussa Sissoko was handed a four-year contract worth roughly £90,000 per week – although Mauricio Pochettino was quick to distance himself from the decision (make of that what you will).
Now Vertonghen has come out and admitted he wants to stay in North London but one of the sticking points appears to be that of the length.
No doubt Vertonghen may well fancy more than one year usually afforded to players of a certain age and as he is back in full flow in the side, he holds some of the bargaining chips.
This, like the Sissoko deal, is one that involves the player, his agent and Daniel Levy only with Poch appearing to have little say in such matters.
Whether or not that has a lasting effect on the relationship between Levy and his manager remain to be seen but already there seem to be some rumbles of discontent.
Watch this space.