Toby Alderweireld has been back to his best since Tottenham Hotspur decided to appoint Jose Mourinho as manager.
Graeme Souness has told Jose Mourinho that Toby Alderweireld’s comments after signing a new Tottenham contract is a ‘big statement’ by the defender.
Alderweireld, whose contract at Tottenham was due to run out next summer, recently extended his stay at the club until 2023, as reported by BBC Sport.
Mourinho, whilst speaking to Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports News (21/12/2019 at 1:05 pm), shared he read that Alderweireld said, after signing a new contract, ‘there’s no place I can be happier than this’.
Mourinho was in conversation with Sky Sports presenter David Jones and former Liverpool midfielder, Souness when he told them about Alderweireld’s comments.
The outspoken Sky pundit explained that Alderweireld made a ‘big statement’ with his comments because he is at a stage in his career where he now wants to win trophies, as Souness seemingly thinks that the Belgian believes the best place for him to do that is at Spurs.
“I’m very happy it’s not three [players who will be out of contract],” Mourinho told Souness on Sky Sports. “Yesterday, it was three and this morning it’s only two. But I read some quote of Toby saying, ‘there’s no place I can be happier than this’. And I think this is the biggest reason why he’s staying.”
Souness responded: “I think that’s a big statement for Toby to make because when you get to an age where he is now, it’s all about what you win. The end is nearer than the beginning of his career.
“You want to end your football career with some trophies. I think he sees Spurs with a new manager, with everything else in place and he [thinks] it’s the place to be.”
Whilst Mauricio Pochettino was very much liked for the job he did at Spurs, and the relationships he built, it could be argued that if he was still in charge in North London then Alderweireld wouldn’t have penned a new contract.
Alderweireld staying with the club for the long-term means that their chances of winning a trophy has increased, they don’t need to dip into the market for a new player and the likes of Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth will benefit from him staying.
Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen are the other two players out of contract next summer and if Spurs can sign them down to new contracts soon then it’ll save them a lot more money in the transfer market.
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