[ad_pod ]In Toby Alderweireld’s five years in England – from his initial one-year loan spell at Southampton, to his £11.4m permanent switch to Tottenham in the summer of 2015, right up to the present day – he has consistently been one of the most accomplished defenders in the Premier League.By the end of his first year in north London the classy and composed Belgian, who has been capped 92 times by his country, won his club’s Player of the Season award and was included in the PFA Team of the Year. Subsequently he has become a relied-upon mainstay of a Mauricio Pochettino back-line that conceded fewer goals than anyone else in the top flight in the 2016/17 season, while they were tied with United on just 35 goals conceded in the 2015/16 campaign.Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The 30-year-old’s reading of danger is second to none while few of his peers can boast a higher level of sustained excellence. Indeed, when he individually erred at White Hart Lane in a league game several seasons into his spell on our shores, it was surprising enough to be noteworthy….

That illustrates his consummate reliability but last week it was another of his traits that was trumpeted online.

Alderweireld’s time at Spurs has been an unquantified success yet running parallel to the plaudits has been a drawn-out contract drama playing out in the background, a drama that first came to light all the way back in late 2016.

Ensuring that Spurs didn’t lose one of their brightest stars on a free at the end of his contract, a clause had been inserted into the player’s deal meaning that he would be available for a cut-price £25m in the summer of 2019 so long as the sale was concluded before the final fortnight of the transfer window. That clause is now active.

Let's pause here and take stock. A proven high-calibre Premier League centre-back is presently on the market for a bargain fee; a centre-back who would arguably walk into all but a handful of first teams across the globe. His wages are not substantial comparatively - rumoured to be £80,000 per week. His ability is beyond dispute.

This summer also happens to be one where Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal are actively seeking a new central defender if reports are to be believed, one precisely of Alderweireld’s ilk.

Yet constantly, without fail the only name mentioned for the first two is Leicester’s Harry Maguire. With the Foxes understandably reluctant to relinquish their defensive leader he is valued at a mind-boggling £80m. His wages? A cool £350,000 a week according to some reports.

Before Tanguy Ndombele, Spurs fans haven't been able to vlog about a transfer since January 2018! Judging by the video below, it's been worth the wait...

A pursuit of Harry Maguire makes perfect sense. Defensively he is sound and in possession he has accrued impressive stats in the creation of chances. In every attribute he is a thoroughly modern centre-back and elite at that. But a pursuit of him where the fee is spiralling out of control and Alderweireld continues to be seemingly over-looked has significantly less logic attached.

It gets weirder still because Roma are reportedly very interested. Yet even a bargain fee for the Champions League finalist appears to be off-putting, with reports suggesting the Serie A giants are planning on low-balling Spurs and Daniel Levy to the tune of €12m. Yeah, good luck with that.

All told, what on earth is going on?

Answers on a postcard please because this correspondent is well and truly stumped.