Get the FREE Mirror Football newsletter by email with the day's key headlines and transfer news Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

He was educated at the famed Ajax academy and graduated in the unforgiving world of Spanish football with Atletico Madrid.

And now Tottenham are reaping the benefits as Toby Alderweireld emerges as a key man in their resurgence under Mauricio Pochettino.

The central defender has linked up with fellow Belgian Jan Vertonghen to form one of the most formidable barriers in the Premier League.

Alderweireld has a key role to play for Pochettino, who has assembled the Premier League’s youngest squad.

Remarkably, at 26, he is one of the most experienced players in the squad – and he is relishing that responsibility at a club he feels is going places.

“I knew about the club from Jan, Moussa Dembele and Nacer Chadli when we met up with the Belgium squad,” said Alderweireld.

(Image: Kent Gavin/Daily Mirror)

“They said it was a fantastic club. With the training complex and the new stadium plans, the whole package is there. I wanted to be part of it and I think I made a very good choice.”

He embraced the team ethic straight away this summer when he joined Spurs from Atletico Madrid for £11.5million.

His initiation song was Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, which, by all accounts, he sang with impressive gusto.

Alderweireld might well have been in the fast lane at Southampton, where he spent last season on loan, or could have had a less demanding lifestyle back in Madrid.

While he enjoyed working with Atletico manager Diego Simeone – “one of the best in the world” – he was a fringe player at the Vicente Calderon. His spell on the South Coast gave him the appetite for regular game-time.

“I enjoyed English football from day one when I was with Southampton,” said Alderweireld.

(Image: GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

“The easier choice was to stay at Atletico. I could play my games, get my money. It would be easy. But I thought, 'If I play every game, I can get better.' I took the difficult option to go to Southampton and I am delighted to stay in England with Tottenham. I was 100 per cent certain about my qualities.”

No one at Spurs is arguing about what Alderweireld brings and his timing in the tackle is immaculate.

He owes that to his upbringing in Amsterdam and his time in Spain.

“At Ajax, they are strict when it comes to using the ball as a defender,” he said.

“It is like a pyramid there. There are a lot at the bottom, but if you can’t handle it when you get to the top, you have to go. They develop you.

“I am very fortunate to have had the education at Ajax. I am a defender, but I can play the ball. I have a good technique.

In pictures — Southampton 0-2 Tottenham:

“At Atletico, I learned how to defend. I got the best from both sides and now Tottenham get the benefit from that. I feel I am a total defender.”

READ MORE:

So what is the secret?

“If you make a foul, it means you are too late. If you don’t make a foul, he is gone. I go when I know 100 per cent I can get the ball. I defend my position. I am not Messi. I am not Ronaldo. I have something else. I am not the quickest, like Walcott. I have to be clever and read ­situations.

“If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t be able to play Premier League. Everybody has a strength – this is mine.”

Alderweireld is in no doubt about the toughest opponent he has faced – Sergio Aguero, of Manchester City.

“He is not big, but he has enormous legs – huge. Often he walks around, but then he comes to life. He is very dangerous.”

It is information that he will pass on to his younger team-mates as they take on the best in the Premier League.

(Image: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)

And Alderweireld is thriving on the responsibility.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “At 26, I am not that old. But I have a little bit of experience.

"I won the title three times with Ajax, I played in the Champions League final and won the league title with Atletico. I have also played in the World Cup. So that is something I can take and help them.

"That is what I like – we are a young talented group that wants to improve, to go forward and to become better as a team.

“I have always played in teams like that. That was another reason to come here.”

We caught up with Alderweireld, who was meeting Jesse Appiah as part of a Barclays LifeSkills, and he believes experiences good and bad contribute to a player’s career.

(Image: HENRY BROWNE)

One of his most indelible memories was that from the 2014 Champions League final.

He was a substitute for Atletico against Real Madrid and it looked as if a winner’s medal was heading is way. He was sent on with seven minutes left and Atletico 1-0 up.

“I went to left-back — a position I had never played in before,” he recalled. “And against Gareth Bale!

(Image: Reuters)

“So, I was quite lucky that he was tired. But Sergio Ramos scored in the last two minutes and then we lost in ­extra-time.

"But you take that kind of ­experience with you – always.”

Toby Alderweireld was rewarding a member of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. Barclays are offering an incredible work experience opportunity at Spurs. For more information visit www.barclayslifeskills.com.