Opinion: Why offering Vertonghen a new deal is Tottenham’s best option

Jan Vertonghen has been backed to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer after eight seasons at the club (Football Insider).

The centre-back’s contract expires at the end of June and reports suggest that talks between the Belgian international and the club over a new deal have hit a dead-end.

Spurs are only said to be ready to offer the 33-year-old a one-year extension while the defender is said to be demanding a two-year deal if he is to put pen to paper.

Reports have suggested that the club are in the market for a left-sided centre back to replace the Belgian (Sky Sports).

However, the North Londoners are likely to have a very limited transfer budget this summer due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and are said to prioritising free transfers and bargain deals (Mirror).

Luckily for Tottenham and Jose Mourinho, there are potentially some great bargain options available this window who will improve the squad.

Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg only has a year left on his contract with Southampton and he fits the bill of what we need in midfield while Thomas Meunier, whose deal with PSG runs out this summer could also add more depth at right-back (Goal).

Willian and Ryan Fraser will also become free agents this summer and could offer us more options on the flanks while the likes of Vedat Muriqi or Patrik Schick could be signed as a backup to Harry Kane without breaking the bank.

However, there seems to hardly any central defenders likely available this summer of the same quality and the right price.

Dayot Upamecano and Kalidou Koulibaly are both clearly out of our price range while other realistic options like Chris Smalling and Diego Godin are not good enough to solve our defensive issues.

I believe that in the wake of the financial hit caused by the pandemic, our best option will be to offer Vertonghen a two-year deal and then go for a top central defender next summer, rather than sign a temporary stop-gap like Smalling or Godin.

While there is no doubt that Vertonghen’s performances have dropped off drastically this season, I felt the experienced defender was starting to show signs of improvement just before the season was suspended due to the pandemic.

It is clear from the former Ajax man’s body language that he is not prepared to call time on his Spurs career and is desperate to land a two-year deal.

I believe he could still have a lot to offer for the next couple of seasons even if he isn’t a regular in the side.

The big question would be if Vertonghen will be willing to sign an extension with Spurs knowing how sought after free agents are this summer.

However, the centre half has proven his loyalty to Tottenham over the years and I believe he could turn down more lucrative wages elsewhere if we offer him a two-year contract.

Daniel Levy rarely offers older players a longer deal (Football Insider) but we are going through unprecedented circumstances at the moment and I believe offering Vertonghen an extension makes the most sense for us both from a business and a footballing point of view.

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