Published: 11 September, 2014
by DAN CARRIER

SPURS received a significant boost this week when it emerged that Jan Vertonghen is set to sign a new five-year deal.

The Belgium centre-back was the subject of interest from Spanish giants Barcelona and Manchester United over the summer but according to reports this week he is happy to pen a new deal that will keep him at White Hart Lane until 2019.

Spurs travel to Sunderland on Saturday and Mauricio Pochettino faces a selection dilemma over who to start alongside Vertonghen. Vlad Chiriches starred in Romania’s European Championship qualifier win against Greece, and is in contention, while Younes Kaboul is also available. 

New singing Federico Fazio, who has yet to make his Spurs’ debut since joining from Sevilla, is expected to earn a place on the bench. Fellow new recruit Benjamin Stambouli might well get the nod to start in the centre midfield ahead of Nabil Bentaleb who could be rested having appeared in all of Tottenham’s league games so far and represented Algeria midweek. 

Pochettino will definitely be without Kyle Walker, who is still recovering from surgery on his abdomen and could be out until the new year, meaning new boy Eric Dier will remain in the right-back berth. Meanwhile Roberto Soldado will be able to stake a claim for a run in the first team after finally recovering from a back injury.