Toby Alderweireld opens up on failed Man Utd transfer while at Tottenham

Toby Alderweireld has revealed that he had the chance to join Manchester United back in 2018, but did not want to force his way out of Tottenham in order to secure the move.

The defender signed for Spurs in 2015 from Atletico Madrid following a successful loan at Southampton.

He would spend the next six years largely partnering compatriot Jan Vertonghen and forming one of the Premier League’s most formidable defences.

While Alderweireld ended up staying at Tottenham until 2021, he had the chance to leave in 2018 when a £25m release clause in his contract became active for a brief period, and was strongly linked with a move to United.

The Red Devils were then managed by Jose Mourinho, who bemoaned that he had not been backed in the transfer market – Diogo Dalot, Fred and Lee Grant ended up being United’s only signings that summer. Mourinho would ironically hand Alderwerield a bumper contract while in charge of Spurs the following year.

Speaking to Sport/Voetbalmagazine in his native Belgium, Alderweireld opened up on the proposed move and why it did not go through.

“People wrongly think that players have a lot to say in transfers. We are usually the last to be informed about a potential deal. That’s just the reality,” Alderweireld said.

“After the World Cup in Russia, I found out what was going on with Manchester United. That’s partly up to me.

“I always told my agent that I wanted to focus purely on football. I told him: ‘If a club comes, you can arrange everything and I will hear it.’ In the case of Manchester United, should I have been more committed? No, I don’t regret anything.

“My best years as a footballer have been with Tottenham. I have so much respect for that club that it would be strange to say now that I should have forced my transfer to Manchester United.”

Alderweireld would stay for another three years at Spurs and was part of the side that reached the Champions League final in 2019.

He left in 2021 to join Qatari side Al-Duhail before signing for hometown club Royal Antwerp this season.