Toby Alderweireld leaves Spurs with Cristian Romero possible replacement

Tottenham have announced that Toby Alderweireld will leave after six years at the club, joining the Qatari side Al-Duhail, with Spurs hoping to sign a replacement centre-back in the next few days.

The Premier League club have been in talks with Atalanta over Cristian Romero but at the moment the clubs are quite apart in their valuation of the Argentinian centre-back.

Atalanta are holding out for €55m (£47m) but Spurs are unwilling to pay that much for the 23-year-old. Other players under consideration by Tottenham are Takehiro Tomiyasu (Bologna, €18m), Kurt Zouma (Chelsea, €25m) and Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina, €15m).

Alderweireld had two years left on his contract but was keen to leave and has moved for a fee believed to be £13m. The Belgium international made 236 appearances for Spurs after joining from Atlético Madrid in 2015 and was an integral part of the side that mounted back-to-back Premier League title challenges and got to the Champions League final.

A Spurs statement said: “We have reached agreement with Al-Duhail SC in Qatar for the transfer of Toby Alderweireld. We wish Toby all the best for the future.”

Tottenham have also said that they will trial the use of the NHS Covid Pass for supporters wanting to attend their men’s and women’s pre-season friendlies against Arsenal next month.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side will take on their north London rivals on August 8, followed by a women’s match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Fans wanting to attend must prove they are fully vaccinated against coronavirus or have had a negative test within 48 hours of the match.

The trial comes after a government announcement that a full vaccination against Covid-19 would be a condition of entry to large events from 1 October. Supporters under the age of 18 are not part of the trial nor need to present a negative test.