Tottenham Transfer News: Latest on Toby Alderweireld Summer Exit Rumours

New reports regarding Toby Alderweireld's exit rumours have emerged in Belgium, suggesting Tottenham Hotspur prevented the defender from speaking to the media.

According to Het Laatste Nieuws (h/t Sport Witness), Alderweireld was expected to address the press after the match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday, but Spurs' press officer intervened.

He only spoke to Spurs TV, which HLN described like this: "Only to Spurs TV, the official channel where players usually talk in cliches and everything is filtered, was he allowed to talk."

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The newspaper also said Alderweireld's absence from the team has nothing to do with his play and is instead related to his refusal to sign a new contract with the club.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino denied those claims earlier in April, per Alasdair Gold of Football.London:

"For me, like every single manager, it's about performance, training sessions, form during the season and then you pick your starting XI, the best players to try to play. He needs to keep pushing and, of course, the team is in very good form, 13 games unbeaten in the Premier League. For no one it is easy to come back and play again."

Alderweireld made his first appearance for Spurs since February 18 against Brighton, and he played a full match for Belgium against Saudi Arabia in March―proving he was healthy.

He tweeted after the Brighton match:

The 29-year-old has a contract until 2019, but his deal includes an option for the club to extend it by a further 12 months. If that happens, a release clause of just £25 million will be activated, which would be valid starting this summer, per Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail.

Said clause is a major problem for Spurs, who don't want to lose the Belgium international on the cheap but can't afford to enter the 2018-19 season without triggering it, either.

If he starts the new season with a single year on his deal, he could sign a pre-contract with a foreign club as early as January 2019, and HLN said PSG are interested.

There's no denying Alderweireld's value and importance to the club. According to the Mirror's Darren Lewis, his spell on the sidelines has made it clear Tottenham need him:

Alderweireld is expected to leave the club at this point, as Spurs seem happy to rely on the duo of Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez moving forward.

Things could still change between now and the summer, but the parties involved will have to work fast.