​Manchester United are confident of signing ​Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld, after the Belgian scrapped end-of-season contract talks.





According to the ​Evening Standard, Spurs have conceded that they have lost their defender and will instead use the money generated from his eventual sale to sign Ajax youngster Matthijs de Ligt.

#mufc confident they will win race for #Alderweireld for in excess of £40m. #thfc will replace him with de Ligt. More here: https://t.co/iUGL6pEf6O — Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) May 15, 2018

It is reported that Manchester United are willing to spend in excess of £40m to fight off competition for 29-year-old Alderweireld, which would give Spurs a comfortable sum to spend on de Ligt.





Despite only being 18, de Ligt has five caps for the Netherlands and played alongside Davinson Sanchez for Ajax in the 2016/17 season, including the Europa League final against Manchester United. They developed a strong understanding before Sanchez moved to Spurs for £42m last summer. He is viewed as a long-term replacement for Alderweireld, who rejected Spurs' last offer worth around £120,000 - more than twice what he currently earns at White Hart Lane.

A hamstring injury has been the main reason for his limited number of appearances for Spurs this season, with only 13 starts to his name - including an appearance in the ​final day thriller against Leicester.





​Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and ​Barcelona are all interested in Alderweireld, but Manchester United have given him an attractive offer that he would be interested in signing.





Speaking after the victory over ​Leicester, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said that the club would hold talks after the season but they did not take place.

Alderweireld is now on holiday in Greece ahead of the World Cup in Russia this summer, so is seemingly relaxed about his immediate future.