Exclusive Toby Alderweireld: What's happening at Tottenham is strange... the club need to make a lot of changes. Andy Robertson? It's a top signing

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone in Brussels

Toby Alderweireld has called on former side Tottenham Hotspur to make significant changes ahead of the 2026/2027 Premier League campaign after narrowly avoiding an apocalyptic relegation last month. 

And rather than pouring water into a cracked cup, Alderweireld, who was part of the club’s finest hours in recent history, wants to see open-heart surgery at the club. 

In other words, he wants to see some fresh faces through the door and get rid of the dead wood. 

The Belgian, who hung up his boots in 2025, cemented his legacy as one of the club’s greatest-ever central defenders and was a crucial cog in their rise from Premier League mediocrity to mixing it up with the domestic and international elite. 

In his days in north London, the club finished as runners-up in the Premier League in 2016 while also making it to the Champions League final three seasons later before he left after a six-year stint in 2021.

Yet he admitted to being blown away by the club’s fall from grace and urged the board to make “a lot of changes” if they want to avoid a nerve-wrecking repeat. 

Relaxed and measured throughout the interview, Alderweireld wore a big smile when he exclusively discussed all things Tottenham with Capital Football London. 

After all, the 37-year-old is still a big fan and has the club’s best interests at heart. 

He told Capital Football: “It was not the best season of course. 

“I think everybody could see that. 

“Sometimes it can happen that a team is underperforming but (only if it is) for one month or a period. 

“But for all season it’s quite strange. And especially for Spurs, I think it’s one of the biggest clubs in England. 

“And when you almost get relegated (it means) things are not going well. 

“I think they need to change a lot this season not to get in that situation again.” 

So could they already have a shot at European football or should Roberto De Zerbi have his eyes set on stabilizing the club first after consecutive 17th-place finishes? 

When asked, Toby said he would prefer the Lilywhites to take it one step at a time and avoid yet another turbulent start to the season and the knock-on effects that generally entails for the rest of it.

He said: “I think the first is to get back track and on winning ways. 

“And start the season well because if you don’t start the season well you get back into the feeling and to the drama of being in the bottom of the table. 

“First of all to get some good transfers and players that really want to play for the club. 

“And start to build up slowly again.” 

At the time of speaking, Tottenham had already completed the signing of Andy Robertson on a free transfer from Liverpool. 

And Alderweireld who made 236 appearances for the north Londoners talked up the experienced Scotsman’s arrival. 

He said: “I think it’s a good transfer because he’s Premier League proven and knows what to do. 

“He’s a guy that works very hard and i think it’s a very good signing.” 

The second and third parts of this exclusive interview will come out in the following days on our channels.