Toby Alderweireld has been heavily linked with a summer exit from Tottenham Hotspur.
The centre-back is out of contract at the end of the upcoming season but he can leave prior to then for a cut-price fee due to a clause in his deal.
Spurs took out an option to extend his contract at the turn of the year to stop him leaving on a free transfer in the summer, thus activating a clause that allows him to depart for £25million before the final two weeks of the transfer window.
Amid previous links with Manchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to strengthen his defence, it's now Roma who are leading the race for the experienced defender.
Previously it was reported that Spurs had offered Alderweireld in a deal to try and lure Nicolo Zaniolo to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but the latest from Italy suggests that the Giallorossi will actually take their time before moving for the ex-Ajax man.
Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport claim that Roma are intending to wait and will instead make a €12m move once the clause expires as his contract runs out in 2020 and he will turn 31 next March.
However, Calciomercato claim the Belgian defender has said yes to a summer move to the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma's new sporting director, Gianluca Petrachi, is said to have tempted Alderweireld a contract of €3.5m a year plus bonuses and now just need to activate his release clause at Spurs.
The Premier League transfer window closes in just under a month and that means any club wanting to sign the player on the cheap will need to activate his release clause by Thursday, July 25.
Alderweireld is certainly a bargain at £25m in the current market and Spurs must accept the offer and give the defender permission to speak with the club in question as long as they meet his clause.
That would then give Mauricio Pochettino two weeks to sign a new defender to cover for the Belgian.
It's still not out of question that Spurs offer the player a new deal to stay in north London for the foreseeable future, although it has gone rather quiet on that over the past few months.
The clock is now ticking to activate the player's release clause and he will most certainly be in the headlines quite a bit over the next fortnight.
