Rumour Round-up: Saints ready to take legal action over Alderweireld

Rumours in both England and Spain suggest Tottenham has had an £11.5million bid accepted by Atletico Madrid for Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld.

Southampton had Alderweireld on loan from Atletico Madrid and shone in a defence which conceded 20 goals less than Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs.

However, because of a clause in Alderweireld's loan arrangement between Southampton and his parent club which has not yet been met, Saints could have a case to pursue legal action to prevent him from moving to their Premier League rivals.

It is alleged that Southampton have a binding agreement with Atletico which enables them to buy the player for a fee of around £7million - a bargain following his impressive season. If Atletico wished to opt out of this arrangement, they would have to pay Southampton a fee in the region of £2million for the privilege.

As Atletico never paid Southampton the above figure of £2million, Southampton's legal team feel they have a case which could scupper Spurs' potential move for the player. On Sunday, reports surfaced about Saints sending over club representatives and lawyers to thrash out a deal for the in-demand centre-half.

Alderweireld has previously stated he would be more than happy to continue his time in the Premier League under Ronald Koeman's stewardship at the Saints.

Here's hoping this saga comes to a conclusion which sees Toby in the red and white stripes of the Saints come next season.