Toby Alderweireld’s last appearance for Tottenham Hotspur came in his side’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal last month and he’s missed the last three matches for the London club.
The defender played the full 90 minutes for Belgium during the international break, but was left out of the squad during Spurs’ 2-2 draw against Newcastle United on Sunday.
In his post-match press conference, José Mourinho said he didn’t select the centre-back because he joined full training a day before the match.
“Not selected. They came to training just yesterday. They were fit, yeah. But they report for training only yesterday and they went for their national teams and they didn’t make the Covid tests on time to be in the training session on Thursday, not even on Friday, they come only yesterday,” Mourinho said.
Some, however, have said this isn’t factually correct as Tottenham published photos of last Thursday’s training session and the centre-back was pictured with his teammates.
Voetbal24 reported on Sunday that Alderweireld is of the belief the Portuguese tactician has lashed out at him for ‘no good reason’.
It was also claimed the Belgium international is unhappy with his treatment from the former Chelsea manager and wants to leave the club in the summer.
Het Belang van Limburg have published a quote from the 32-year-old’s father, who has not responded to the possibility of his son leaving Tottenham.
Responding to Mourinho’s ‘lie’, Alderweireld Sr said: “Why? You have to ask Mourinho himself.
“I don’t see a problem. How Toby reacted? No. He’s not worried.”