Report: Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld on Barcelona January transfer wishlist as Samuel Umtiti cover

Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti is in Qatar for a treatment on his knee cartilage problem, and his absence has forced the Catalan giants into making emergency plans to sign a new defender during the January transfer window.

As reported by Sport, Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Toby Alderweireld, whose contract ends with the north London side in June, is one of the targets Barcelona will consider.

The Belgian continues to play hardball over putting pen to paper at Spurs, and after he was left out of the team that lost 4-2 to Arsenal on Sunday, with manager Mauricio Pochettino preferring the inexperienced Juan Foyth instead, it seems an exit could be on the cards.

Alderweireld will leave on a free by summer if nothing changes and Tottenham refuse to cash in on him in January, and it remains to be seen if the club will be willing to lose such a valuable player for free.

Should Barcelona approach the 29-year-old, turning them down could prove difficult as he knows he has a realistic chance to finally win major silverware.

The La Liga giants are yet to decide on which player they want to sign as Umtiti’s cover given the plenty options they are considering, but Alderweireld has a chance to show them what he is capable of doing again if he plays during next Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Camp Nou.