Barcelona to enter Alderweireld race

Barcelona are set to enter the battle for Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld, according to the Mirror.

The Belgian centre-back has mostly been linked with Manchester United who reportedly made a strong attempt to sign him this summer, but they failed to agree a deal with the North-London club. More recent reports suggested that United manager Jose Mourinho was prepared to offer an exchange deal involving Eric Bailly.

However, they are now set to face competition from Barcelona. The Catalans have also expressed strong interest in Ajax youngster Matthijs de Ligt, but a deal for the Ajax youngster seems impossible to happen in January, while Alderweireld would also represent a more ready-made option to offer Gerard Pique some competition for the spot in the starting XI. The Belgium international’s current deal expires at the end of June next year.

However, Spurs do have an option to extend the deal to further 12 months and they aren’t likely to let their arguably best defender leave in any kind of a cut-price deal just yet.