Toby Alderweireld – Tottenham Hotspur

Toby Alderweireld – Player Profile

Toby Alderweireld has proved to be an impressive addition to the Spurs squad since his move from Spanish side Atletico Madrid in July 2015.

The Belgian centre half began his career with Ajax in the Netherlands. During a very successful 9 years, accolades came thick and fast as he won one Dutch Cup and consecutively won 3 league titles with the prestigious Dutch club. Additionally, Alderweireld was officially awarded the title of Ajax Talent of the Year in 2010.

After transferring to Atletico Madrid in 2013, Toby Alderweireld was a member of the squad that won the La Liga title and reached the final of the Champions League – all in his first year at the club. Following an impressive loan spell with Southampton during the 2014-15 season, Toby landed at Spurs in 2015 for an estimated transfer fee of £11.5 million.

Forming a formidable central-defence partnership with national teammate Jan Vertonghen, Alderweireld experienced glistening success in his first season for Spurs. Spurs conceded the joint lowest amount of goals during that campaign and Alderweireld was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year as a result.

The following campaign, Alderweireld was a regular in the starting eleven for Spurs until he sustained an injury against West Brom in October. He made his return for Spurs in the Champions League against CSKA Moscow and remained in the side from that point, scoring against Hull in the last game of the season. He was part of the Spurs defence that conceded just 26 Premier League goals, which was the best defensive record in the history of the club.

The 2017-18 campaign was a stop-start one for the Belgian as a number of niggly injuries kept him out at various parts of the season. In total, he made 22 appearances in all competitions.

In December 2018, Spurs activated a clause in his contract to extend his stay at the club until 2020 and he continued to perform well as the club reached the quarter-final of the Champions League.

Toby Alderweireld’s international presence is as impressive as his domestic influence; he has been a senior international player since 2009 and has earned over 80 caps for his country. Alderweireld represented Belgium at EURO 2016 as well as the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.