Jan Vertonghen’s one-word message to Toby Alderweireld after centre-back’s Tottenham exit
The pair played together for half a decade.
Jan Vertonghen has labelled Toby Alderweireld as a “legend” of Tottenham Hotspur after his former centre-back partner left the club in the week.
Making it clear to the club over the past few months that he would like to depart for a new challenge, Spurs confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that they’d reached an agreement with Al-Duhail for his services.
Following the departure of another long-serving player on Monday as Erik Lamela linked up with Sevilla, Alderweireld's exit sees Fabio Paratici make another key change to the squad as he looks to freshen things up for new boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Belgian’s exit means that both Vertonghen and Alderweireld have now left the club. The two are largely considered to be the greatest centre-back partnership of Spurs’ modern era as they consistently helped Tottenham qualify for the Champions League.
In response to an extremely emotive tribute video by Alderweireld on Instagram, Vertonghen simply replied by calling him a “legend.”
Many Spurs fans share the same sentiment, although they may not go quite as far as Jamie O’Hara who has claimed that they are in the top five centre-back partnerships in the Premier League.
“Toby and Vertonghen go in my top five Premier League partnerships,” he told talkSPORT.
“They had a period of time where Tottenham weren’t spending big money, had a great side, were consistently in the Champions League and weren’t conceding goals, so I have to put them in there in my top five.”
Most will disagree with O’Hara’s opinion, but it will be difficult to replace them long-term.
READ MORE: Sol Campbell risks further wrath of Tottenham fans by asking Harry Kane transfer questionREAD MORE: Tottenham to trial Covid-19 vaccination pass in pre-season friendly vs Arsenal“I just don’t know whether Spurs are going to see a back four like that in a long, long time,” he added.
Alderweireld departs after making 243 appearances for Tottenham in all competitions, scoring nine goals in the process.
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