LONDON -- Jan Vertonghen says the "total picture" at Tottenham Hotspur convinced him to sign a new contract with the club, but added he is unlikely to finish his career at White Hart Lane.
Last week, Vertonghen, 29, became the ninth senior Tottenham player this season to extend his deal, keeping him in North London until 2019.
The Belgium international has made over 150 appearances for Spurs since joining from Ajax in 2012, and he says the club have made positive strides in that time, particularly since manager Mauricio Pochettino's arrival in 2013.
"It's the total picture," Vertonghen told a news conference when asked why he had committed his future to the club. "A lot has changed since I came here five years ago and only in positive way.
"The new training ground, a new manager, new staff, a lot of new players and new mentality. On the other side, my family is very happy here. In two years, we move to a new stadium, and Tottenham have shown it can compete with the biggest clubs in the league, as every player wants at Tottenham.
"That's why so many players have signed new deals over last couple of months -- they all believe in this club, what's happening at Tottenham. You all saw it last year."
Vertonghen will be 32 when his new contract expires, and he suggested he wants to play on until his late-30s, making it difficult to retire at Tottenham.
"It's very hard to finish your career at this level as it demands a lot of your body but I will try and I'm doing everything I can to stay as fit as possible to compete for as long as I can at this level," he said. "Not a lot of players can play here until they're 36 or 37 but I will do my best to play here as long as I can."
Vertonghen was rested for Tottenham's 2-1 defeat at Monaco last month, which ended their chances of reaching the Champions League round of 16, but he could return for Wednesday's final group game against CSKA Moscow.
If Spurs avoid defeat at Wembley, they will drop into the Europa League and Vertonghen joined Pochettino in insisting that they are desperate to beat the Russian club.
"I love playing in Europe," he said. "Obviously I prefer to play in the Champions League but we have the squad and the fitness to cope with two games a week, and I prefer to play two games a week than just one, so we'll do everything to win that game.
"We are very disappointed not to go through in the Champions League but Tottenham wants to win trophies, wants to compete at the highest level and the Europa League is a good competition, a perfect competition for us to compete for the final or to go as far as possible.
"As a club, we raised our standards and we're all here for that. Since the manager came, we created a new mentality and there's a lot of different things going on at this club that are very positive. The fact we are disappointed to be out of the Champions League is very positive, as that's where we want to play and where we belong as well."
Spurs have lost to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen in their other group games at Wembley and Vertonghen says they are determined to put right their poor record at the stadium on Wednesday.
"We want to show everyone that it's not Wembley bothering us," he said. "It's a big pitch, and a good pitch that should suit our style of play. We know it's not a Wembley thing, we want to show to the world.
"The stadium at Wembley is a lot bigger, different from White Hart Lane, but not in a bad way. More supporters, a different atmosphere, but it has not influenced our game in a negative way."