Contrary to some far-fetched suggestions, we somehow doubt it’s a conscious decision to distance himself from Tottenham Hotspur.
Toby Alderweireld was linked with a move away from Spurs in the summer but he seems content with his decision to stay put despite well-documented interest from Manchester United.
“Everyone was saying everywhere that I absolutely wanted to leave Tottenham,” Alderweireld said earlier this week.
“That’s not true. This summer, I quickly understood Tottenham wanted to keep me. So, I had to battle to get my place back in the team. To be in the first team again is a victory for me.”
Alderweireld was run ragged by Liverpool on Saturday afternoon and viewers spotted an interesting quirk on the centre-half’s shirt.
At first glance, Alderweireld’s jersey looked perfectly normal, complete with the sponsor’s logo and the Nike swoosh.
But on closer inspection, the shirt was missing Spurs’ iconic badge and the lack of a cockerel did not go unnoticed on social media.
"The badge on my chest is more important than the name on my back."
Something Toby Alderweireld can't say today.#TOTLIV
— Oumar Aga (@Oumar_Aga) September 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/Alexhassett23/status/1040934422625873920
Is it just me or does Toby Alderweireld jersey not have a #Spurs badge? #LFC #EarlyKO
— Jamie Campbell (@j_campbell77) September 15, 2018
There is almost certainly no more to the missing badge than a printing error and Spurs fans had much more to worry about after falling to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.
A Georginio Wijnaldum header opened the scoring for the visiting Reds on Saturday before Roberto Firmino scored the easiest goal of his career from inches out.
Erik Lamela scored a consolation goal in injury time to pile the pressure on the visitors but Jurgen Klopp’s side held out and remain top of the table, having won each of their five league games so far this season.
