Tottenham try to thwart Barcelona's Vertonghen interest
The Belgium international has been heavily linked with a move to Camp
Nou but Spurs are keen to tie down the defender and are set to offer him
an improved contract
Tottenham are set to offer Jan Vertonghen a new contract as Mauricio Pochettino continues to build for his first season in charge at White Hart Lane.
Pochettino,
appointed as Tim Sherwood's successor in May, is keen to tie the club's
best players to the club ahead of the 2014-15 campaign and has already
convinced Hugo Lloris to put pen to paper on a five-year contract.
Vertonghen
has four years remaining on his current deal but Spurs are keen to
thrash out improved terms on an extension as they bid to keep him at the
club, with the likes of Barcelona monitoring his situation.
The
Catalan club are believed to be in the market for a new centre-back and
Vertonghen's agent has so far refused to confirm whether the Belgian
intends to remain in north London beyond this season.
"Several
teams are interested in Jan. I cannot confirm or deny whether Barcelona
are one of them. Tottenham is not a small club," Mustapha Nakhli, his
representative, told Het Nieuwsblad earlier this week.
"It’s too soon to give them an answer. Several clubs have registered their interest in Jan. We’ll see."
However,
Vertonghen claimed in May that he is “happy” at Spurs and that he would
work under any manager appointed in the wake of Sherwood's departure.
“I've
got a couple more years at Tottenham and I'm happy, and I want to stay
there, so it doesn't matter who the manager will be,” he said.
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