Arsenal are reportedly chasing Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld but there are a number of problems with this story.

Toby Alderweireld has a £25m release clause in his contract making him an attractive and affordable option for Arsenal as they look to restyle their defence. But all is not as it seems.

Firstly, the story seems to have started in the Daily Express who got it from some randomer on a podcast. They report that ‘Football operations and communications consultant Ian McGarry said’: “The problem [Arsenal] are going to have with this is they are offering not to pay up front, but over the course of one year, the €28m [£25m] clause.”

He apparently told the Reach plc Transfer Window podcast: “Alderweireld is very tempted to look at a career [sic] where he doesn’t need to uproot his family, his life, because obviously, these training grounds are quite close to each other.

“Therefore moving to the Emirates would in one way be quite an ‘easy’ thing to do.

“It would not be easy in what Spurs fans would think about that, but I think it’s something that makes sense for Arsenal given their transfer budget is less than €50m [£45m] all-in.”

But it won’t be that easy at all.

The next problem for Arsenal is that it’s Tottenham and, even if Alderweireld is available for £25m, it is highly unlikley that Spurs are going to sell to Arsenal regardless of the next point.

When Alderweireld signed his new contract with Spurs that contained this release clause they also inserted an anti-Arsenal clause.

This, of course, hasn’t been mentioned in reports covering these new claims but back in January, it was widely claimed that the release clause applied to everybody except Arsenal.