Tottenham sign Atletico defender Alderweireld

Tottenham Hotspur have announced that they have successfully completed the signing of Atletico Madrid defender Toby Alderweireld.

He joins fellow Belgians Nacer Chadli, Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen at Tottenham, and could end up partnering the latter in the heart of their defence, as they also did when they were teammates at Ajax.

He started his career at Ajax in the Netherlands, before moving to Atletico in 2013.

The news was broken via Spurs’ official Twitter account on Wednesday morning as the club have fought off competition from Premier League rivals Southampton to land the Belgian worldwide. It’s nice when you join and know a couple of players.

He said: “I’m very proud to be a Spurs player”. From the beginning I knew a lot about the club from Vertonghen, Dembele and Chadli.

But Tottenham have now confirmed his signing until 2020 to make him the third addition of Mauricio Pochettino’s defensive overhaul, following the arrival of centre-back Kevin Wimmer from Cologne and ex- Burnley right-back Kieran Trippier. “Now that dream is coming true so I’m very happy, very proud and I will give my best”.

The stories likely won’t stop here, however: the looming legal action between Southampton and Atletico Madrid, who reportedly missed a deadline to buy out Southampton’s option on Alderweireld for £1.5m, will likely continue in some form or another.