It was truly the end of an era at Tottenham when the club announced the departure of Toby Alderweireld on Tuesday. The 32-year-old made up one half of arguably the club’s strongest centre-back pairing in modern history, playing alongside compatriot and former Ajax team-mate Jan Vertonghen for the majority of his stint in north London. Quite fittingly, Alderweireld’s departure came a year to the day after Vertonghen was let go by the club, who is now playing is football at Benfica in Portugal. Tottenham confirmed Toby Alderweireld has joined Qatari outfit Al-Duhail on Tuesday Alderweireld bid farewell to Spurs fans in a video, saying it was 'an honour' to play for them The Belgian duo helped the club, along with Mauricio Pochettino, take that next step forward and become a regular fixture in the Champions League, while their push for silverware ultimately failed before the Argentine boss was sacked in November 2019. Alderweireld was arguably the club's finest defender in the Premier League era, with Vertonghen and a fit Ledley King the only men held in higher regard by the Tottenham faithful. But after completing a move to Qatari outfit Al-Duhail for one last huge pay-day, Alderweireld leaves Spurs a man light in defence. Eric Dier, Joe Rodon, Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez are the club's only recognised senior centre-backs at the club, while the latter has been linked with an exit this summer. Spurs' new director of football Fabio Paratici has a number of targets in mind this summer Dier is not seen as a solid option at the back for Tottenham following a rocky stint under Jose Mourinho, while Rodon is still settling in at the club and remains as one for the future. Tanganga has struggled with injuries since being promoted from the club's academy and was viewed as more of a right-back by Mourinho. And with new Spurs boss Nuno Santo Espirito and director of football Fabio Paratici wanting to play with three at the back, Tottenham need to find Alderweireld's replacement – and quick. But who are they targeting? Here, Sportsmail looks at the candidates Paratici wants to bring in to replace Alderweireld at White Hart Lane. Cristian Romero (Atalanta) Value: £50m: Romero remains as the front-runner to replace Alderweireld, given he has agreed personal terms with Tottenham and is ready to join the club on a five-year deal. The 23-year-old technically belongs to Juventus - but he has been playing with Atalanta for two years, who have a pre-agreement to sign him this summer for around £14m - and the club are expected to sell him on for a profit. However, Atalanta and Spurs are still apart in their valuation of the Copa America winner, with the Premier League side unwilling to go above their £42m offer for the Argentine. Atalanta centre back Cristian Romero remains as the front-runner to replace Alderweireld The 23-year-old was part of the Argentina side who won the Copa America this summer While Atalanta are ready to let Romero leave, the Serie A side are hoping to get as much as they can for the defender and reportedly want £47m for him, especially given how high his stock is at the moment. Romero, who was brought to Juventus by Paratici, is the Italian's main target this window and remains intent on bringing him to White Hart Lane. The defender played a key role in helping Atalanta qualify for the Champions League once again. The centre back scored three goals and made five assists in 42 appearances last term and his impressive performances saw him crowned Serie A's 'Defender of the Season'. Takehiro Tomiyasu (Bologna) Value: £15m Another player that has been heavily linked with a move to Spurs in this window is Bologna's Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese defender, who is currently representing his county at the Tokyo Olympic Games, is comfortable at centre-back and right-back and would prove to be a shrewd buy, given how highly rated he is in Italy. Spurs were said to be close to completing a move for Tomiyasu, who have agreed personal terms with the player, after seeing their initial £13m offer knocked back by Bologna, who are holding out for a bid closer to £17m. Bologna's highly-rated defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has been heavily linked with Tottenham Spurs had a £12.9m offer rejected by Bologna for Tomiyasu, who is currently at the Olympics However, Sportsmail understands a bid in the region of £15m would be enough to get the deal over the line. There were concerns that a move for Tomiyasu were close to collapsing after he picked up an ankle injury while on international duty at his home Games, but the defender was fit enough to start at right-back in Japan's final Group A game against France on Wednesday lunch-time. Tomiyasu made 31 appearances and scored two goals last season, with Bologna finishing 12th in the Italian top flight. Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina) Value: £13m According to The Athletic, a move for Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic would be a 'relatively straightforward deal'. The Serbia international has one year left on his deal with the Italian club and is said to be keen on making a move to the Premier League. Reports have suggested that Fiorentina have offered him a new deal to extend his stay at the club but Milenkovic has refused the offer. Fiorentina and Serbia defender Nikola Milenkovic has one year left on his current deal He would be a cheaper alternative to Romero for Spurs at £13m but Paratici remains intent on pursuing the Argentine. Milenkovic made 34 appearances for Fiorentina last season, who finished in a lowly 13th in the Serie A. The defender has also been linked with West Ham. Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton) Value: £25m Another defender who's contract expires next season is Southampton's Jannik Vestergaard. Sportsmail understands that Spurs held talks with the player earlier this month and are keen to bring him in should moves for other targets fall through. The 28-year-old is one of the more dearer options on this list while he is also a few years older than the other candidates. Tottenham have held talks with Denmark defender Jannik Vestergaard about signing him However, Vestergaard has bags of Premier League experience and would likely take little time to fit in at the club alongside his former team-mate Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Vestergaard has impressed at Southampton since arriving from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2018 and more recently shone at Euro 2020 with a Denmark team that reached the semi-finals. Jules Kounde (Sevilla) Value: £68m Put this one in the 'highly unlikely' pile. Tottenham were keen to bring Sevilla's star defender Jules Kounde to north London following his recent rapid rise in world football. The Frenchman has been on many top clubs' radars, with the player himself dreaming of a move to Real Madrid. However, Real's desire to sign Kylian Mbappe this summer has left them short to bring in other targets and have ruled out any other arrivals this summer. Sevilla star Jules Kounde has been linked with a move to Spurs but it is not likely to happen Spurs were hoping this would open the door for them to sign Kounde, while offering Sanchez in a player-plus-cash swap deal to lower Sevilla's £68m asking price. And while Sevilla will have been tempted by the prospect of bringing in Sanchez as his replacement, Kounde is unwilling to move to a club without Champions League football. This has seen Chelsea begin talks with the Frenchman, with the Blues ready to offer defender Kurt Zouma as a potential makeweight. And with talks advancing between European champions Chelsea and Sevilla, Spurs could be ready to count themselves out of the race for Kounde very soon. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility