Toby Alderweireld admits he was “honoured” after residents of his home town of Ekeren began a petition to erect a statue of the Tottenham defender to replace that former king of Belgium Leopold II, though he has played down suggestions the idea could become a reality.
Likenesses of Leopold II, who oversaw atrocities in the Congo from 1885 to 1908, have been graffitied or removed following anti-racism protests across Belgium, which were sparked by the killing of George Floyd in the United States last month.
One such statue was removed from the centre of Ekeren, a northern district of the municipality of Antwerp, as protestors call for the country to confront its colonial past.