Tottenham’s contract negotiations with defender Toby Alderweireld are currently deadlocked with the Belgian reportedly looking to triple his current £50,000 per week deal.
He is under contract until the summer of 2019 and the club have and option to extend this another year - although triggering it opens a small window where the defender could be sold for as a little as £25 million if he strikes a deal with another club.
In the current market, the North London side could expect offers in the region of the £75 million Southampton received for Virgil van Djik so unless he signs a new deal soon - it’s unlikely Spurs will let him run down his contract and receive pennies on the pound for such a valuable asset.
The Belgian has been a revelation at the north London outfit - helping the club to have the best defence in the league for two consecutive seasons since he joined from Atletico Madrid in 2015.
Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy is not fond of selling star players to domestic rivals and after watching both Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov star for Manchester United - he offloaded both Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Of course, he sanctioned the transfer of Kye Walker to Manchester City last summer but received arguably twice his worth at over £50 million for a player who was struggling to get a place in the Tottenham starting 11 ahead of Kieran Trippier.
Real are struggling to keep pace with bitter La Liga rivals Barcelona and have conceded 27 league goals compared to the league leader’s 11 ahead of this weekend’s games.
Madrid will be looking to revamp their squad in the summer and Alderweireld’s contract impasse could lead to a sensational return for Spurs hero Gareth Bale.
The Welshman has struggled in recent seasons with form and injury while the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo lurks large.
A swap deal between the clubs could be a relatively painless transfer given their dealings in the past.
Wouldn’t Spurs fans love to see Bale in the first team to play at their new stadium and help usher in a new era at the club? Only time will tell.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
