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Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas on the three key men Tottenham dare not lose
Jermaine Jenas believes Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will allow key players to leave the club in the next couple of years, but he has warned that three key figures in the Spurs set-up need to remain in place.
With the exception of last summer’s £50m sale of Kyle Walker to Manchester City, Levy has stepped away Tottenham’s policy of selling star names in recent years, yet their rise to prominence in the Premier League and Champions League has seen their star names Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen emerge as the some of the most sought after players in world football.
Former Spurs midfielder Jenas has experience of dealing with Levy and he suspects the chairman who is known for his prudent management of the club’s finances will not break the club’s wages structure to keep all of his key employees content.
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Yet BT Sport pundit Jenas believes that a trio of key men have to be retained if Spurs are to maintain their progress under the guidance of boss Mauricio Pochettino.
“There are three people at that club that it would really strike you with fear if that would left,” Jenas told Yahoo Sport. “The manager is the first one, Harry Kane is the second and Toby Alderweireld is the third.
“I think what you have there in those three is potentially one of the best managers in European football, you’ve got a world class striker on your hands and you have one of the best central defenders in Europe.
“Around those three, I reckon they will allow a couple of players to go for the sake of the stadium, the wage structure. The rest of replaceable in my opinion and even if Spurs fans don’t want to hear that, I believe the strength of Mauricio is his ability to find players who fit into his team and replace players he feels he can do without.
“If anyone shows signs that he doesn’t want to be there, Pochettino is the type of manager who will get a player our and say that no player is bigger than the club.
“However, Tottenham have to make sure that Pochettino, Kane and Alderweireld are there for the long-term because they are their world class performers in many respects and they cannot allow them to walk away from the club.
“It makes no sense to me going into this wonderful new stadium with a blue chip company sponsoring you, long-term deals with the NFL and looking like one of the best teams in European football to join to suddenly selling your best players and the chairman has to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Tottenham’s attempts to tie Alderweireld down to a new contract have so far failed to reach a successful conclusion, with Jenas concerned the Belgian centre-back will leave the club unless Levy sanctions a huge pay rise for a player who has been linked with moves to some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
“Alderweireld is right up there with Sergio Ramos and whoever else is in that mix to be the best defender in European football,” he added. “He could get into the Real Madrid side straight away and improve them, so Tottenham have to make sure they resolve his contract situation and make sure he stays at the club.
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“He would be the one I would be worried about and the chairman is going to have to shift to make sure Alderweireld is happy and committed to the club for the long-term.
“I don’t think he will pay £150,000-a-week and £50,000 a week in bonuses for Kane and Alderweireld and then do the same for Dele Alli and Eriksen. He won’t do it for everyone, but he needs to make that step forward and pay the big money for the players who I see as irreplaceable.
“If it takes £150,000 to £200,000 to keep Alderweireld then pay it. If he runs down his contract and you sell him, then it will cost £60m to replace him so pay the money now and keep the player at the club.”
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