Tottenham: Concerns over Vertonghen; Pochettino on interest for stars; defender wanted

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Despite another wonderful win for Tottenham, the latest coming after a 4-0 dismantling of West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane, manager Mauricio Pochettino’s biggest concern will be the injury sustained by key defender Jan Vertonghen, who left the pitch in tears after turning over his left-ankle just after the interval.

“We need to wait for tomorrow and Monday to assess him better. It looks bad,”, Pochettino told BBC Sport.

“He is disappointed and in a very difficult period but we will push him to recover quickly to try to help him.”

Vertonghen has played 20 of Tottenham’s 21 league matches this season, forming part of a defence that has conceded just 14 goals, the best defensive record in the Premier League this campaign.

The Argentine will be hoping to get the defender fit and raring to go as soon as possible, but in the meantime, he also has to contend with the permutations of the January transfer window. Of course, Spurs are hard at work plotting their own transfer business, but with paper talk rife surrounding his Tottenham stars, Pochettino may have his work cut out in beating off the vultures circling his best players at White Hart Lane.

Or, much to the delight of Spurs fans, perhaps not. Footage taken by the London Evening Standard‘s Tom Collomosse at the club’s press conference on Friday suggests the contrary, with Pochettino insistent that the club’s healthy financial state renders them capable of rebuffing big-money offers for their key players.

Dele Alli- with seven goals in his last four games- has been the subject of much speculation, as well as full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, whose impressive performances have also caught the eye. Harry Kane is another in the midst of a rich vein of form at Spurs, having hit a hat-trick in the club’s 4-0 win over the Baggies on Saturday. All four however, have put pen to paper on improved contracts at the club in recent months, alongside Jan Vertonghen, Hugo Lloris, and Christian Eriksen.

“We don’t need to be worried,” Pochettino said. “It will be our decision, but today it is not about money because Tottenham are one of the healthiest clubs in the world from a financial point of view.

“The chairman, Daniel Levy, deserves full credit for that and we are working very hard with him. He is doing a fantastic job to keep our best players and he is building a great stadium for the future of Tottenham and our supporters.

“As for Dele (Alli), he is happy here.  It isn’t the time to talk about this (a transfer), and every few months we cannot afford to keep offering him a new contract and improved salary.

“I don’t like talking about rumours, but he is happy and he is performing well, and that is the most important thing”.

That may not rule out anybody at the club going through the exit door though, since it has emerged that left-back Ben Davies is a surprise target for Manchester City, according to The Sun.

Pep Guardiola is thought to be in the market for a versatile defender capable of filling out the left-back and centre-half roles after missing out on Bayern Munich’s Holger Badstuber.

Tottenham’s Davies is behind Danny Rose in the pecking order at Spurs but has attracted attention from the Etihad following an impressive Euro 2016 showing in the heart of the Wales defence, having also featured as a full-back on-loan at Swansea. City are thought to be prepared to pay a transfer fee in the region of £20million to lure the 23-year-old into swapping North London for Greater Manchester.

City believe the addition Davies can help solve their defensive problems which have thus far been a stumbling block in their title challenge, with Guardiola also looking for additional options to cover the injury-stricken Vincent Kompany.

However, any potential deal may be in jeopardy following Jan Vertonghen’s injury against West Brom on Saturday, and the outcome of scans may determine whether Spurs will be willing to part ways with the Welshman or keep him back as cover in the Belgian international’s absence.

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