How concerned should Tottenham be that Toby Alderweireld is yet to sign a new contract?

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Tottenham fans may believe that there is cause for concern this summer. Not only are the Lilywhites yet to make any signings, but they have just lost £50 million right back Kyle Walker, and now central defender Toby Alderweireld has told Sky Sports that there has been no progress in talks over a new contract, saying “no news that I know of so nothing…zero.”

The report indicates that Alderweireld’s contract will come to an end next summer, with Tottenham likely to take up a clause in his contract allowing them to extend his deal by a further year to 2019. However, doing so would also activate a £25 million release clause for the Dutch international.

In the current transfer market, that would represent a real bargain and it seems inevitable that with such a price tag, Alderweireld would be quickly snapped up. To lose such a key player would be devastating enough, let alone with the symbolic humiliation that could come attached to losing key players to Premier League rivals two years in a row.

The concern for Spurs may be that in doing so this summer, the defender feels that his club lack ambition. At the heart of defence, the centre-back’s commanding displays have been worthy of a player competing for titles, and selling key players to rivals in unlikely to convince him to stay at the club. Speaking of Walker’s departure, he said:

“Everybody is sad that he left. He is one of the best full-backs in the world and unfortunately he goes to another [Premier League] team, but we have to focus ourselves to win the game.”

In Daniel Levy, Tottenham fans can usually put trust in their chairman to do what is best for the Lilywhites. It seems likely that a deal will soon be struck for Alderweireld to commit to the club and show that his future does lie in north London.

However, until such a deal is struck, it is easy to see why fans may feel uneasy. Losing Alderweireld would be a substantially bigger blow than the loss of Walker this summer, and would surely show that Spurs have no business fighting for Premier League titles. Even if Tottenham delay making any signings further, signing up Alderweireld should be their top priority.