Former Tottenham Hotspur star Toby Alderweireld has insisted that the Antwerp derby means more to him than the North London derby between Spurs and Arsenal.
Alderweireld spent six years at Tottenham and was part of several heated north London derbies between Spurs and Arsenal during his time in the Premier League.
The Belgian played in ten North London derbies and even scored a big winner for the Spurs against Arsenal in 2020.
The centre-back was also part of the Madrid derby when he was at Atletico Madrid and featured for Ajax in Der Klassieker against Feyenoord when he was in the Netherlands.
However, Alderweireld insisted that none of those games compare to what he feels when he is part of the Antwerp derby in Belgium.
This means more to me than games against Arsenal, insists former Spurs star
Royal Antwerp are set to clash against Beerschot in the local derby and Alderweireld will be at the heart of the Antwerp defence on Sunday.
The defender came out of the Beerschot academy but decided to play for Royal Antwerp when he returned to Belgium on 2022 and is currently their club captain.
Alderweireld has been part of big derbies in the Netherlands, north London and Madrid but the defender insisted that nothing compares to the Antwerp derby.
He admitted that Antwerp is his city and the game means much more to him despite the other derbies being bigger games on paper.
“Der Klassieker, the North London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal, the Derbi Madrileno with Atlético Madrid against Real Madrid may be bigger matches on paper, but this means more to me”, the centre-back via Royal Antwerp’s social channels.
“The Antwerp derby in my city.”
Tottenham will hope that their former player fairs better in the local derby than what they did when they lost to Arsenal at home earlier this month.
