Danny Murphy believes Tottenham Hotspur would have to spend around £100m to replace Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, so it makes “financial sense” to do everything in their power to keep the Belgian centre-backs at the club. Vertonghen and Alderweireld are both in the final year of their deals with Spurs and little progress has been made in regard to a contract extension.
The duo don’t appear close to putting pen to paper, raising the possibility of a double exit when the campaign comes to a close. That would be a major blow to manager Mauricio Pochettino and chairman Daniel Levy because Tottenham would have to pay a lofty sum to replace them adequately. Murphy, who made 29 appearances in all competitions for the London outfit, says it works out considerably cheaper to give them a payrise.
He told bwin: “It would make financial sense to give Vertonghen and Alderweireld the contracts they’re looking for. Daniel Levy won’t make the mistake of letting top-quality players leave for free like Arsenal have done a few times, but it would cost a fortune to replace them.
“Tottenham would be looking at spending £100m on new central defenders when you look at Virgil van Dijk’s impact at Liverpool. That will cost a lot less than an improved contract. I can only think that a potential domino effect is what’s stopping them, where every player would be knocking on the door for more money.”
Vertonghen and Alderweireld have been terrific servants for Tottenham since their respective arrivals in 2012/13 and 2015/16, racking up a combined 381 club appearances in all competitions and 196 for the Belgian national team. Pochettino would turn to Davinson Sanchez in their absence but they don’t have any other adequate cover which could end up harming their chances of success in the future.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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