Is Toby Alderweireld staying at Tottenham?

No one really expected Toby Alderweireld to still be at Tottenham when the Premier League campaign kicked off. Is the defender staying at Spurs?

The fact that Toby Alderweireld has begun the Premier League season in a Tottenham kit is surprising to quite a few people. The real question now is whether or not the Belgian defender is set to stay at Spurs for the remainder of the 2018/19 campaign.

Mauricio Pochettino isn’t giving out any solid hints at the moment. He did include Alderweireld in his opening match day 18 at Newcastle, but he didn’t actually make an appearance for the club. Instead, Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez played the full match for Spurs.

Pessimistic Tottenham fans might point out the reality that Tottenham aren’t blessed with any real depth at centre back at the moment. Both Cameron Carter-Vickers and Juan Foyth are sidelined due to injury at the moment. Eric Dier is perfectly capable of playing the position, but he started against the Magpies in the defensive midfield. It’s possible the only reason Alderweireld made the squad was because of injuries.

That isn’t really Pochettino’s style though. For example, Danny Rose wasn’t included in the matchday squad despite being the obvious choice to backup Ben Davies at left back. Kyle Walker-Peters was chosen instead. It’s hard not to interpret that as a clear message to Rose about his place at the club.

By that line of thinking, it looks like Alderweireld has a realistic shot at forcing his way back into Pochettino’s plans. The real challenge for him will be to displace either Vertonghen or Sanchez in the starting XI. The two formed an excellent partnership in Alderweireld’s absence last season. Pochettino isn’t going to make a change until the Belgian is obviously outperforming one of the current starters in training.

The other option would be to see Spurs shift back to a formation that features three at the back. That’s how Sanchez made his way into the starting lineup last season. Changing to that type of formation might lessen the stress put on Tottenham’s midfield. That’s an area beset by injuries at the moment. Putting another central defender on the pitch would allow Pochettino to remove a midfielder. It’s a formation certainly worth considering against certain opponents.

If pushed to speculate about the probability of Alderweireld staying at Tottenham for the full season, we’d be inclined to say he’s slightly more likely to stay than to twist. Those are much better odds than many gave Spurs earlier in the summer.