A barren transfer window in the summer for Tottenham Hotspur shouldn’t distract from the fact that the Spurs hierarchy have got the club ticking nicely, warding off prospective clubs vulturing around for their respectable talent and procuring contract extensions with several key members of the impressive squad, whilst also containing the balancing act of the development of their new stadium.
In the past six months, Son Heung-min and the increasingly important Erik Lamela have signed contract additions, keeping them at the club until 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Exciting youngsters have also been retained, with Luke Amos, Timothy Eyoma, and Oliver Skipp each committing their future to the club until 2021.
Since the start of the year, Spurs fans have also been buoyed by the club warding off outside interest in Harry Kane and Dele Alli and tying down the two Englishmen to six-year deals, and manager Mauricio Pochettino taking his option to stay for a further five.
In the eyes of the majority of Spurs supporters, Christian Eriksen remains as important as that latter trio but news that the Dane is stalling in his contract talks (via The Times) should leave a considerable amount of anxiety for the those who wear the Lilywhite.
Teammates Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembélé, Fernando Llorente and Michel Vorm all have their contracts expiring at the end of the season - the latter three all without an option to extend - but Eriksen is probably a more pressing concern with him currently due to leave the club in 18 months time when he’s due to enter the prime of his career.
Still only 26-years-old with even more productive years still expected to come, dynamic midfielder Eriksen has proved time and time again to be capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Premier League elite; he’s arguably as fundamental to Spurs’ success as Eden Hazard is to Chelsea, or even David Silva for Manchester City.
However, Eriksen will enter the final year of his year at the campaign’s end, having last signed an extension at the beginning of the 2016/2017 season.
Incredibly, after over five years at the club, Eriksen still only earns around £70,000 a week - that’s the same amount as Victor Wanyama and around £5k less than Fernando Llorente.
To put this further in perspective, across North London, Mesut Ozil earns just over £300,000 at Arsenal (CNBC).
Last season, Eriksen recorded an extremely admirable tally of 14 goals and 13 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions. In comparison Ozil managed five and 14 for the Gunners, all whilst taking home over four times the pay grade.
Whilst Standard Sport understands that ‘Tottenham are hopeful that Eriksen will become the next star to put pen to paper’, his recent comments are open to interpretation;
"I have my agent to take care of it so I can play football, then we see where it ends. There have been talks with Tottenham many times. I cannot say if it’s over just yet - you must ask them."
Should a new deal that suits all parties be unforthcoming it would be far from a surprise if rival Premier League clubs start to circle.
Liverpool and Manchester United have been well-known admirers in the past, with Eriksen’s agent having revealed to The Independent that he has ‘received offers’ every transfer window for the midfielder, considering it ‘a compliment’ that reflects the Dane’s immeasurable talent.
That interest is sure to raise its head once again if the issue regarding Spurs’ future cannot be resolved with immediate incentive.
