da doce： In a Q&A on Football.London, Alasdair Gold has provided a major update on the contract situation surrounding Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen.
What did he say?
da bet nacional： The Belgium international’s current deal with the Lilywhites comes to an end in the summer, but with the season currently postponed, there is a real chance that his contract could end before the campaign reaches its conclusion.
And now, Gold has suggested that there are some serious issues for FIFA to resolve, and claimed that Spurs may be inclined to keep a hold of Vertonghen so as to avoid having to spend money on buying a replacement.
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He said: “The Premier League clubs want to finish the season before they even contemplate what happens next season. If that means going past June 30 then it’s going to have to. FIFA have been attempting to set up ways for it to work but in practice you surely can’t force someone to extend their contract if they don’t want to and likewise you’re forcing some clubs with financial difficulties to extend contracts, however short, for players they may not wish to.
“There is also another element to it in that some clubs with financial problems may find it’s cheaper to extend deals of current players they may not have originally done so for than have to pay transfer fees for replacements. That could be the case with Vertonghen who is believed to have always wanted to stay at Spurs but the closer he gets to becoming a free agent so the more attractive the offers he gets will be from across Europe and further afield.”
Headache
Make no mistake about it, the issues of player contracts looks like it’s going to be a major headache for clubs across the world this summer.
In Spurs’ case, it may well be in their best interests to tie down Vertonghen for a short-term deal just to absolutely ensure that Jose Mourinho can call upon the Belgian for the final few games of the season – whenever that ends up getting played.
The north Londoners are unlikely going to be big players in the transfer market what with money set to be tight, so at least having a Premier League-proven central defender in their ranks for the remainder of the campaign can ease some concerns.
Meanwhile, Alasdair Gold has waxed lyrical about this Spurs starlet.