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The Daily Telegraph reports that Moussa Dembele’s wish for a three-year contract extension could scupper Tottenham’s desire to tie the Belgian midfielder down to a new deal.
The 30-year old is out of contract in June 2019, and wants a minimum 3-year extension to agree to a new deal, amidst interest from Europe, particularly Italy, after his performances in the Champions League this season.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has called Dembele a genius, and he is normally one of the first names on a Spurs team sheet. However, he has a long-standing foot problem, and his playing time has to be managed with a view avoiding injury problems.
It is his injury problems which make Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, reluctant to commit to a long-term deal for a player, who is thought to want an increase of 25% on his current weekly wage of £80,000 to continue his stay in North London.
Unlike some of their Premier League rivals, Tottenham do not have any rules on only offering one-year contract extensions to players who are aged over 30 or more.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.