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This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

Roma are set to launch another bid for Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld before the transfer deadline, per Calciomercato.

What’s the word?

Alderweireld’s £25m release clause has expired, though that is no guarantee that he will stay at the club.

The Belgium international remains a target for the Serie A club, with Franco Baldini, a key figure behind the scenes at the Italian club, twice meeting with Spurs to discuss a deal for the defender.

However, Calciomercato reports that Spurs still want €28m (£25.6m) for the 30-year-old, a fee that is out of Roma’s reach.

Instead, the Italian club would like to pay €20m (£18.3m) for the player, because his contract expires next summer.

Decision time

This is a difficult one for Spurs.

One instantly feels that £18.3m is small change for a player of Alderweireld’s quality and is also £6.7m less than the clause that was available throughout the summer.

And yet, if Spurs opt against accepting such a proposal, they run the risk of him leaving next summer for nothing.

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At that point, negotiations are taken out of Spurs’ hands and he could go wherever he fancied; that could be Roma, it could also be a club like Arsenal.

Spurs do not have a lot of time to make a decision, with the English transfer window closing next week.

That is precious little time to buy a replacement if Alderweireld does leave – a conclusion will have to be reached soon.

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