Tottenham will let Jan Vertonghen go for nothing at the end of the season, according to Football Insider.
What’s the story?
The 118-time Belgium international’s contract runs out at the end of the season, but it seems there are no plans from Spurs to try and keep him at the club.
The report adds that the north London outfit told a number of interested sides that he would be available for £12m in January, but they failed to offload him in the end.
Right decision
Since signing for the club in 2013, Vertonghen has been a revelation. He has gone on to make 314 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, helping the club move towards the upper echelons of the Premier League and European football, which culminated in them reaching the Champions League final last season.
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However, much like the whole team, the 32-year-old’s level of performance has dropped during the 2019/20 campaign. His average WhoScored rating in the top flight of 6.85 is the worst since he made the switch to London seven years ago. Quite frankly, he is not the player he used to be, and the increase in injuries over the last season-and-a-half have not helped him perform at his best level.
Vertonghen currently earns £100,000 a week at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a substantial amount – for context, only five players in the whole squad currently take home more than what he does. It is not clear how much he would demand if talks for a new contract were set to commence, but if it were to be around the same sum as present, that is not something that Tottenham could justify considering the quality of his displays recently.
There is no doubting that he has been a terrific servant ever since Andre Villas-Boas took him to White Hart Lane, but all good things must come to an end. Yes, Spurs will not receive a penny when he does depart, but sometimes, that does not matter.
His loyalty down the years means they have got their money back on the pitch – whether they get any money for him when he leaves is irrelevant.
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