Tottenham transfer news: Christian Eriksen has ‘always been happy’ at Spurs says Mauricio Pochettino
The Dane was close to leaving Spurs in the summer transfer window
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Your support makes all the difference.Mauricio Pochettino has asserted that Christian Eriksen was content to remain at the club, despite suggestions that he would leave during the summer transfer window.
Speaking ahead of Spurs’ game against Crystal Palace this weekend, the Argentine said that Eriksen has “always been happy” to stay in North London.
“He never said that he wasn’t happy here. I told you before the Arsenal game that he was in the right mind - that is why I selected him.
“[He] is a player that we appreciate a lot and his qualities are there and are important for the team.”
Almost from the end of the January transfer window last season, rumours circulated that Eriksen was looking to move on from Tottenham, with Real Madrid reportedly his preferred destination.
Eriksen himself did nothing to dispel such stories, with the midfielder revealing that he would be open to a new challenge in an interview with Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet. When asked about leaving the Premier League he said: “I feel that I am at a stage of my career where I would like to try something new.”
Despite Spurs signing Giovanni Lo Celso and being rumoured to sign Paulo Dybala as well, Eriksen remained at the club but has still to sign a new contract. The Dane’s current deal runs out at the end of this season, meaning he can negotiate a contract with a club outside of England from January 1.
Pochettino has insisted that Eriksen’s contract status will not affect his place in the Tottenham team.
“We believe that he deserves to play.
“Of course he’s going to play. It’s not because he has less than one year of his contract that we are going to take a different decision.
“All decisions are going to be based on performance.”
Eriksen seems likely to feature from the start against Palace after two goals in Denmark’s 6-0 rout against Gibraltar, coupled with the fact that Lo Celso picked at injury with Argentina that will rule him out until the end of October.
Dele Alli has also only recently returned to the Spurs first team, with the midfielder managing just 30 minutes against Arsenal in the final game before the international break.
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