Tottenham continue to raise the price for Toby Alderweireld

Manchester United may feel confident about signing Toby Alderweireld away from Tottenham, but Spurs keep changing the price for their talented defender.

When Daniel Levy is negotiating to buy a player for Tottenham he can be one of the most frustrating people on Earth for Spurs fans. On the other hand, the fan base can’t help but applaud him when he’s driving up the price of a player headed out the exit door. That’s just what he’s doing with Toby Alderweireld at the moment.

English reports continue to claim that Manchester United are hot on the Belgian’s trail, but they have to be very frustrated by now. The media first came out with reports that Alderweireld could be had for a transfer fee somewhere around £40 million. That amount always seemed low, but it was somewhat understandable given the player’s age and contract status. Alderweireld is nearing 30 and only has one functional year left on his current deal.

Then, gradually, more and more reports started to pop up that the fee required for the stylish centre back was actually £50 million.  This move seemed to placate some Spurs fans. No Tottenham supporters really want to lose Alderweireld, but most can understand that his wage demands make a summer exit inevitable.

It’s doubtful United would hesitate to pay that sort of fee for such an accomplished defender. That initiated a number of rumours claiming Spurs would demand Anthony Martial be a part of the deal. It’s very possible that would be a non-starter for Jose Mourinho and company. They clearly want to ship the Frenchman out of the league.

That also could turn out to be a motivating factor for Levy as it relates to Alderweireld. United aren’t the only team in Europe interested in his services. Moreover, they aren’t the only rich club in Europe interested in installing him as a starter in their back four. The likes of PSG and Juventus have also begun to sniff around Alderweireld.

In the aftermath of that news, it seems that Levy has increased the price for his prized defender again. This time it’s not a measly increase of £10 million. Now the prevailing rumour claims that Levy won’t accept a pound less than the fee Southampton received from selling Virgil van Dijk. That brings Alderweireld’s price all the way up to £75 million.

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That figure sounds a lot more like Daniel Levy. He may end up letting Alderweireld go for a lesser figure, but he was never going to start negotiations on the cheap. This is a transfer saga that may drag on for quite some time. You can be sure that Tottenham are going to ultimately get top dollar for their world-class defender.