If Poch is serious, he won’t sell Toby

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has achieved three straight Champions League qualifications; but if Tottenham lose Toby Alderweireld to Manchester United, they will be back to where they were under Martin Jol. They will be problem solvers — for their main rivals. Last summer, it was Kyle Walker. Manchester City needed a right back and Tottenham did the business. At the time, a fee of £50million including performance-related addons was lauded as another exceptional bit of business from Daniel Levy. But was it? In 2016-17, Tottenham finished one place and eight points ahead of City; this season they are two places and 23 points behind. A 31-point, oneseason swing. That isn’t only down to Walker, obviously — but it is in part. Guardiola credits his new full backs with changing his system, allowing Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane to come inside and join his front men. Walker is key to Sterling’s form this season, to his goalscoring, to his emergence as the most important player for England at this World Cup. If Guardiola didn’t have exceptional full backs, his strategy could not work as fruitfully. Tottenham solved that problem for him. Now Alderweireld looks set to leave after failing to agree a new contract. Again, Tottenham will be driving a hard bargain — a fee of £40m is being discussed, for a player who is 29 and would be available on a free transfer in 2019. Yet this isn’t about the money. This solves another problem, this time for Jose Mourinho. Manchester United have been looking for a defensive rock since Nemanja Vidic left in 2014 — and in Alderweireld, they might find it. This is a throwback to the days when Jol repeatedly failed to make the top four, and Tottenham sold players such as Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to United. The difference is, Pochettino has Tottenham closer than Jol ever did, and has built a team that should be challenging for the title. That cannot happen while Tottenham solve problems for their rivals. Maybe Pochettino will solve a problem elsewhere, too, some day.