- Toby Alderweireld will not travel with the Tottenham squad to Turin on Monday
- Manager Mauricio Pochettino is wary of aggravating Belgian’s hamstring injury
- Centre-half returned to the side against Newport after three months out
- But Pochettino left him out of the Spurs squad for Saturday’s win over Arsenal
- And he isn’t prepared to risk Alderweireld in the Champions League showdown
Toby Alderweireld has been left out of Tottenham’s squad that will travel to Turin on Monday.
Though the Belgium centre-back believes he is fit and ready to play against Juventus after recovering from his hamstring injury, manager Mauricio Pochettino has opted to take a more cautious approach.
The defender returned from three months out in the FA Cup win over Newport last Wednesday.
Tottenham centre-back Toby Alderweireld will not travel with the squad for the Juventus game
The Belgian was sidelined for three months with a hamstring injury and has only just returned
Mauricio Pochettino isn’t prepared to risk playing Alderweireld against Juventus this week
He played the 90 minutes and, having declared himself fit, hoped to be in the lineup for the derby against Arsenal on Saturday and put himself in contention for the Champions League last 16 tie with Juventus.
However, Pochettino and his staff are demanding of their players and do not wish to take unnecessary risks for such a big game.
As with team mates Danny Rose and Erik Lamela, Pochettino wants Alderweireld to work more on his fitness to ensure he is stronger when re-integrated fully to the side.
The 28-year-old will not be happy at being left out of such a game and that will lead to further questions about his future at the club as talks continue over a new contract.
Alderweireld will not be happy about being left out of such an important match
Alderweireld’s £50,000-a-week deal contains a one-year extension option, which is due to activate in the summer of 2019 and would see him contracted until 2020.
Yet it also features a £25m release clause for the summer of 2019 should a rival club agree to pay £25m and complete the transfer at least 14 days before the closure of the window.
Should the club fail to reach agreement over new terms, they may be forced to consider selling for greater profit this summer.
Tottenham believe the coveted Belgium international is happy in general and maintain a cautious approach to his fitness is better considering the nature of his injury and the amount of games, potentially, they still have to play.
They do not want to see a player suffer an injury recurrence, similar perhaps to the case of Ross Barkley at Chelsea, and need complete confidence before including him for games of this magnitude.