Manchester United are reportedly targeting Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld and are keenly tracking his situation as he is stalling on signing a fresh contract with the Lilywhites.

The Belgian international has entered the final 18 months of his current Tottenham contract and although Spurs are keen on handing him a new deal, the defender is yet to process any talks about the same. Alderweireld, however, has a clause to extend his contract by another year.

As per Manchester Evening News (M.E.N), the defender carries a £25million release clause on his head which too can only be activated in the 2019 summer transfer window but not later than 14 days before deadline day. In terms of transfers, Manchester United boast of quality attack, but remain vulnerable in defending standards.

Alderweireld’s contract situation has only given Manchester United a hope of acquiring the Belgian in the summer transfer window.

As things stand for Tottenham regarding Alderweireld, M.E.N has quoted that the player’s representatives have held talks over new terms with the club, but at the same time, one cannot ignore the fact that Tottenham might really look to cash in on him given that they will be moving to their new stadium ahead of next season.

The cost of their new stadium has gone beyond expectations and as per the aforementioned source, they initially quoted a certain £400m for the project but their estimation has taken a hike to a whopping £1billion.

Meanwhile, for Manchester United, there are rumours that Mourinho is planning to cash in on Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in the upcoming summer and that will eventually pave way for at least one central defender to come in. But Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld seems to be a distant reality given Tottenham won’t send any of their first-team regular to a direct Premier League rival. Moreover, the player himself hasn’t expressed any notable unhappiness with Spurs.

We’ll have to wait and see how this story develops.