Tuesday, 18th December, 2012
Ajax’s Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld has admitted that were he to join either Arsenal or Tottenham Hotspur then they would represent a "step forward" in his career.
The Belgian stopper, who used to form a fearsome defensive partnership with Jan Vertonghen at Ajax, until his countryman moved to White Hart Lane over the summer, has been mooted as being on the hitlists of both Arsenal and Spurs – and that talk has clearly reached Alderweireld’s ears.
And though the defender is in no rush to leave the Amsterdam ArenA before the time is right, he does believe such a switch would mark a genuine progression in his career.
"When the time is right, I’ll change teams, but for now Ajax is the most important thing", Alderweireld was quoted as saying by Bold.dk.
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"I expect to play here after the winter break", he added, before looking at what might change in the future.
"Ajax is a very good club. It will be hard for me not to play here all my life and if I have to choose between Ajax and another club, there are not so many [to pick].
"But clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham, they are great clubs and they would be a step forward."
Ajax will be pleased to hear that the Belgian defender is not planning to jump ship mid-season, but there remains the genuine possibility that Alderweireld will follow countryman Vertonghen to England next summer.
The 23-year-old would become one of a growing band of Belgium internationals playing in the English Premier League, something which has given the country much pride and cause to hope for a bright future on the world stage.
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