Ronald Koeman has been quoted as saying that Toby Alderweireld would like to stay at Saints but the problem is Athletico Madrid

Ronald Koeman has hinted that the problem about signing Toby Alderweireld is not the player himself, but Athletico Madrid who having bought out Saints right to sign the player are now trying to foist him to the highest buyer and trying to play Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur off against each other.

Koeman said: "The player would like to stay and we would like to keep him.

"But it is a little difficult at the moment with Atletico Madrid. I have a great hope that he will stay with Southampton."

Hopefully Ronald is correct and some of the stories being bandied about in the press about Alderweireld wanting to join Spurs are nothing more than hacks sympathetic to Spurs trying to stir things up.

Certainly as we have learned from the twists and turns in the Clyne and Schneiderlin saga's the rumours in the press about imminent transfers happening in days are often far from the truth, for Saints sake I hope that is true about Alderweireld and that he will return to St Mary's as a permanent Southampton player.

Photo: Action Images

montecristo added 08:18 - Jul 1 to buy a player you have to put in a bid Saints have not done that it would have been disclosed to the local press
0

A1079 added 08:48 - Jul 1 Whether Koeman is right or not as to whether Toby wishes to stay at Saints is largely immaterial. The problem is NOT Atletico Madrid. Toby is there player and naturally, they want to get the best price for him. It is up to Saints, if they are that serious and want to retain Toby and meet his supposed wishes (though I am sceptical as to this claim, as the player himself has not openly said it) to make a bid that is favourable. For me, he is one player worth going that extra mile financially, but it looks like we are not serious and trying to manipulate the supporters to believe that it is Atletico are the problem. They are not. I hope he does stay. Key to our defence.

2

dirk_doone added 09:29 - Jul 1 I think montecristo and A1079 are right. We haven't put in a bid for Alderweireld; Spurs have, and Toby has said he wants to join Spurs anyway.
0

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 10:24 - Jul 1 Saints could really do with getting this deal done. He's top quality, Saints have plenty of cash, so put in a £15m bid and try to get the deal done. Does it really matter if we end up paying £20m? Its a big danger for Saints, the centre back position this season. We've been blessed with Lovren and Alderwiereld bringing out the best in Fonte and vise versa. If they don't get Toby then they'll need to get the recruitment spot on, like they did with Toby and Lovren previously. Our success in the last couple of seasons has been based on not conceding many and we need that to continue. Losing Clyne and Schneiderlin is obviously a massive blow so the recruitment this summer is vital, just as it was last summer. I'm confident Soares will be as good as Clyne and I'm confident the club will get the recruitment right. Signing Soares, Juanmi and Stekelenberg is certainly a good start!

0

bstokesaint added 13:01 - Jul 1 I've heard rumours that Southampton are willing to break their transfer record to sign Toby so I'm pretty sure an offer will be made. It's hard to see Spurs putting in a large offer given they were unprepared to stump up the right amounts for J-Rod and Morgan. I suspect the rumours about the Spurs connection would have come about after someone in the local media asked Toby if he enjoyed playing alomgside Vertongen in the national team.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls