Whilst England’s talisman Harry Kane almost always takes all the plaudits when Tottenham Hotspur perform well, the man who continuously makes them tick is undoubtedly Christian Eriksen. So reports circulating today that the majestic Dane is on his way to the Nou Camp, will be greeted with universal groans from the Spurs collective, who have been in this position before when Spain comes calling.
Although winning La Liga for the fourth time in six years, Barcelona’s capitulation to Roma in the Quarter-Finals of this year’s Champions League has led to murmuring criticism of Barcelona’s credentials to continue to compete at the top level of continental football and rumours of an impending decline.
This has further been exacerbated by stalwart Andrés Iniesta’s departure to Japanese club Vissel Kobe, ‘The Cows’, without a trusted replacement at the club- a position that might be tailor-made for welcoming Eriksen’s talents.
In recent years, Barcelona have also favoured bringing in- instead of up- talent, with Las Masia Academy being neglected for marquee signings, of which Eriksen should almost certainly considered to be. Others are suggesting that a move for Eriksen would only go through following a failure to secure the signature of France’s Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.
Although Tottenham are revered in most circles for the way manager Mauricio Pochettino has them operating as a collective attacking unit that is easy on the eye, the Lilywhites' failure to win anything of note and their apparent refusal to pay their star men the wages similar top-level clubs would offer, has led to substantial rumours of moves away for many of their top-performing players.
The one they most certainly wouldn’t want to lose is Eriksen, who has consistently shown himself to be among the best midfielders in European football. Eriksen arrived from Ajax in what now looks in retrospect as the virtual definition of a bargain, and Barcelona would be expected to pay a considerable amount more with any further dealings with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Whilst we’re only at the tip of the advancing summer transfer window, in yet another further twist, recent Champions League winners Real Madrid have emerged as contenders to also sign Eriksen from Tottenham, featuring on the front page of Marca. Los Blancos would undoubtedly have been impressed by Eriksen’s performance in their group stage 3-1 defeat at Wembley in the European competition, of which Eriksen contributed the third goal.
An unprecedented link to arguably the two biggest clubs in world football shows how highly the Dane’s talents are regarded, and a battle for custody between the Spanish heavyweights would be exciting, but ultimately gut-wrenching for Spurs fans.
Real Madrid have form in poaching talent from the North London club, having taken Gareth Bale and Luka Modric for astonishing amounts of money in recent years, but admittedly have rewarded them with considerable success; namely a hoard of European trophies. With Modric, still talented but now 32 years old, the Croatian might find himself replaced by another Spurs-alumni.
A further dealing with Levy would surely be circling around a similar sum. Bale’s transfer fee was so high that Spurs were able to sign seven players with the money paid from the Spanish capital- one being Eriksen for an incredibly modest £11million from Ajax.
Whilst neither Eriksen’s preference to go nor Spurs’ preference in which direction to sell is known, Levy would also charge a considerable sum for Barcelona to procure the Dane’s talents. Seeing as the Blaugrana splashed out £150 million on proven Premier League performer Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool and a further initial £100million on Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund over the last year, a similar price will be slapped on Tottenham's playmaker.
Eriksen has been monikered 'Golazo' in the Spurs’ changing room, because according to Pochettino, ‘he is capable of scoring unbelievable goals’ and his name rings out around the stadium whenever he plays. And while he may never reclaim the love and adoration he receives on a weekly basis from the Tottenham faithful, at the Santiago Bernabeu or the Nou Camp, Eriksen will probably receive the titles and silverware that have long-eluded him in England.
