The Daily Telegraph - 24.07.2019

By Matt Law

Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hot-

spur chairman, is ready to push

Toby Alderweireld’s price up to

£40 million if his release clause is

allowed to expire on Friday.

That could accelerate Manches-

ter United’s bid to land Leicester

City defender Harry Maguire, with

executive vice-chairman Ed Wood-

ward sitting out the last leg of the

club’s pre-season tour to work on

transfers.

United are hopeful of signing

Maguire but have made Alder-

weireld one of their primary back-

up options.

Woodward, though, will be

aware that it could cost United an

extra £15 million if they allow

Alderweireld’s clause to expire and

then miss out on Maguire, forcing

them to go back for the Belgian.

It means United may try to final-

ise a deal for Maguire before Friday

in case they then have to turn to

Alderweireld if a deal for the Eng-

land international cannot be

agreed.

Leicester City have been holding

out for £80 million to £90 million

for Maguire, who wants to move to

Old Trafford, while Alderweireld’s

clause allows him to leave Totten-

ham for £25 million until Friday.

Alderweireld’s clause also stipu-

lates that a club would have to pay

the sum in no more than three

instalments and over no more than

two years.

Missing out on Maguire and hav-

ing to over-pay for Alderweireld

would be hugely embarrassing for

Woodward, so he needs to act fast.

Despite Alderweireld having

only 12 months left on his contract,

Levy values the 30-year-old at

£40 million and will demand that

much if his clause is allowed to

expire.

Roma have considered a move

for Alderweireld but cannot afford

the fee or wages and Tottenham are

yet to receive a firm offer for the

player.

Alderweireld has not indicated

he will sign a new contract if he

stays at Tottenham this summer,

but he has made it clear he will re-

main committed to Mauricio

Pochettino’s side.

“Yes, the release clause is run-

ning out and anything can happen,”

Alderweireld said. “But my focus is

on Spurs and in my head I will be

playing for Spurs. I try to deliver

the job I need to do – I’m happy and

that’s it.

“Do I think I will still be a Spurs

player come the start of the season?

Yes, that’s my focus. In football,

everything can go quickly, but all

I’m doing is focusing on Spurs and

being fit for the start of the season.”

Levy’s plan

to increase

Alderweireld

price puts

pressure on

Woodward

Sign of the times: Dele Alli meets

autograph hunters in Shanghai and

(left) in training with Son Heung-Min

Sport Football

I’ll come back even stronger from doub

T

here was an amusing

moment at a

community event

here in Shanghai

yesterday when Dele

Alli hit the deck after

being fouled by one of the children

chosen to play in a short match

against the Tottenham Hotspur

midfielder and his team-mates,

Harry Kane, Erik Lamela and Juan

Foyth.

Alli picked himself up to score

the resulting penalty, and picking

himself up after the twin

disappointments of an injury-

ravaged campaign and defeat in

the Champions League final is

what he plans to do next season as

both he and Tottenham aim to

come back stronger.

They were new experiences for

Alli and, as he casts his mind back

to the night in Madrid when Spurs

came up short against a Liverpool

side who seemed there for the

taking and reflects on the 14 weeks

lost to injuries prior to that, it is

clear the 23-year-old wants to

answer some questions, as much in

his own mind as anything else.

“It was difficult to take, getting

to the final and not getting over the

line,” says Alli. “We’re disappointed

as a team, but we’ve got to try and

use it as an advantage to drive us

on next season – use that hurt we

felt after the game, and that we’re

still feeling now when we think

about it. It was a difficult season for

me in terms of injuries – it was the

most injuries I’ve ever had in one

season. So I’ve got to use it all to go

forward, not think about it in a

negative way, and make sure that

doesn’t happen again.”

After last summer’s exertions at

the World Cup finals in Russia with

England, this summer offered Alli

time to relax, reflect and recharge

his batteries after a particularly

draining 12 months – emotionally

as much as physically. In that

regard, then, he was dismayed to

find himself pictured on the front

page of The Sun this month

reputedly looking worse for wear

while on holiday on the Greek

island of Mykonos with his

Midfielder ready for new

start after injury-ravaged

year and final heartache,

he tells James Ducker

girlfriend, Ruby Mae. Alli laughs

when the subject is raised before

the smile, understandably, fades.

“It’s not funny. I can’t say it’s

funny, because it’s not,” he says. “It

was important I had some

downtime. I’m 23, I’m going to

have some fun with my friends. As

long as I’m still being professional,

still doing the right things ... I’ve

come back in pre-season feeling

strong, feeling good and I’m ready

for the season to start.”

Alli is talking at an event to

celebrate the 100th anniversary of

Tottenham’s sponsors, AIA. One

hundred children have been given

the chance to test their skills

against Alli, Kane, Lamela and

Foyth in the stifling mid-afternoon

heat here. They then all came

together to sing Happy Birthday to

Kane, who turns 26 on Sunday, and

present him with a cake.

Spurs are due to face Manchester

United at the Hongkou Stadium

tomorrow lunchtime as they step

up their pre-season preparations

and Alli will again be a central

figure for Mauricio Pochettino. His

versatility as a midfielder has

allowed the Spurs manager to use

him in different roles, but having

found the net 22 times in only his

second season with Tottenham as a

20-year-old, Alli knows that there

are people who will judge him

primarily on his goal output. Last

season yielded just seven, albeit

from a greatly reduced number of

games brought about by repeat

hamstring problems, a thigh injury

and fractured hand, but Alli insists

he does not get too hung up on

such statistics.

“It’s always nice to score and get

assists, but that’s not all I’m about

as a player,” he said. “With my style

of play, I don’t think it matters too

much if I’m getting goals or assists.

I don’t think that means I’ve had a

bad game or I’m not playing well.

Sometimes, defensively or off the

ball, I’m making space for other

players. I think that’s all important.

“I don’t think it’s unfair [if

people judge me on goals and

assists]. A beautiful thing about

football is everyone can have their

own opinion. For me, what’s

important is whose opinion I think

is important. I have great people

around me, great staff, great

team-mates. As long as they think

I’m doing the right thing ...

“Last season was the best I’ve

had in terms of learning as a player.

I’m still young, I’m still improving.

I’ve just got to make sure this

season I come back stronger.”

Tottenham broke their transfer

record to sign the France

midfielder Tanguy Ndombele from

Lyon for a projected £65 million,

and his arrival could yet help

liberate Alli more. Ndombele’s first

couple of touches as a Tottenham

player set up Lucas Moura to score

in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Juventus.

“Yeah, possibly,” Alli says. “He’s

come in, he looks comfortable and

he’s a great player. As an attacking

player, it’s always nice to know you

have people behind you who are

comfortable on the ball and you

don’t have to worry about

defending. You can just get in the

pocket, try to find some space.”

With Euro 2020 to follow, and

the semi-finals and final being

staged at Wembley, there is added

motivation for Alli to impress.

“For England, we’re heading in

the right direction as well – it’s

very similar to here at Tottenham”

he said. “We’ve got a young squad,

we’ve been together a little while

with the manager and it’s exciting.

There’s a massive tournament

coming up and we’ve got to keep

making sure we deserve to be in

the team. I’m going to be doing as

well as I can for club and country.”

0

20

40

60

80

Midfielder’s

Premier

League stats

Passes (000s)

Shots

Chances created

Assists

Goals

Appearances

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

0

10

20

30

40

0

5

10

15

20

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

0.3

0.6

0.9

1.2

1.5

0

2

4

6

8

10

33

(^3736)
25
10
18
9
5
9
7
10
3
(^5552)
64
27
74
94
69
39
Season
‘We have to use the
hurt we are still
feeling now when
we think about the
final to drive us on’
INTERVIEW
8 *** Wednesday 24 July 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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