Certainly, within the last few years, Tottenham Hotspur have started to become a more dominant force in the Premier League and are doing so with a relatively small wage bill.
Tottenham's wage policy
However, this has started to pay the price. The North London side has one of the best central defenders in the League, in the form of Toby Alderweireld. The Belgian defender's contract runs up this coming summer and reports suggest that he demands a contract above the £110,000 per week restriction.
Alderweireld, 28, currently earns within the region of £50,000 a week, which is daylight robbery when you take into consideration that Jesse Lingard is on £100,000 a week.
The structure of the club and Alderweireld's career
Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, has been in charge of the Lilywhites since 2001 and oversaw their League Cup victory over Chelsea in 2008. The Cambridge graduate has been noted for his positive financial running of the club, by paying players relatively low wages. For example, previous Golden Boot winner, Harry Kane receives £100,000 a week in comparison to that of Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku, who earns £250,000 per week.
The Belgian defender is reaching the latter stages of his career and is, therefore, attempting to secure his last big contract deal, whether it be at Tottenham or elsewhere. Despite this, reports suggest that Tottenham's number four has a clause in his contract which allows him to extend his contract to a further year.
However, this activates a release clause in his contract which allows him to leave the club for £25m the following summer.
Alderweireld has proven that he is an integral part of the well-oiled Tottenham machine this season. Since the centre-backs injury against Real Madrid earlier this month, the Lilywhites have only secured a single win in the League within their last four fixtures.
In addition to this, Spurs went unbeaten at White Hart Lane last season, mainly due to the defensive stability in which Toby Alderweireld provided.
The Belgian defender's next move
One of the Premier League's leading centre-backs may use the World Cup in Russia next summer to mastermind his next decision. This could possibly go one of two ways.
The first - impressing at the tournament to secure a move elsewhere, or the second, securing a better contract and staying in North London.
Furthermore, a key issue with this particular contract saga is that it casts doubts within other players minds. Influential Spurs players such as Kane, Alli and Lloris are in similar situations as they earn considerably less than other Premier League stars. Which may see these players depart the club and see the decline of Tottenham Hotspur.
