Whilst Christian Eriksen may remain at Spurs for now, there remains considerable doubt over his future with the North London club.
After all, the close of the summer transfer window has simply intensified speculation surrounding the Danish playmaker, with Real Madrid expected to make a move either next summer or potentially in January.
Eriksen is pivotal to the Spurs side, with his outstanding vision and creativity having created numerous goals for Harry Kane and co during the last few years and in fact, if you follow both teams to score football predictions you’ll often find Spurs tipped because the forward firepower has proven too much for most EPL teams to handle but given the way Poch plays, we are susceptible to being caught on the break.
So, returning to Erikson, if he does leave at some point in the future, the question that remains is who will replace him? Here we look at a few of the candidates.
- James Maddison (Leicester City)
We’re surprised that the EPL’s leading clubs didn’t pursue Leicester’s creator in chief James Maddison during the summer, with the 22-year old playmaker having enjoyed a stellar season for the Foxes in 2018/19.
After all, Maddison created more chances for his teammates last year (100) than any other player, whilst he also completed 3.2 key passes per 90 minutes and is a dab-hand at set-pieces.
Maddison has also showcased tremendous versatility as an attacking player, having played with distinction as a number 10, a number 8 and even a drifting left-winger. There was even talk before the window shut in the summer that Levy was set to make a move.
Maddison shares similar traits with Spurs’ Eriksen, whilst he also fits the club’s mould of being a young, hungry and mobile footballer. He’d help the club as to their homegrown player quote too, and we reckon that he’d be a potential snip at an estimated fee of around £60 million.
- Nabil Fekir (Lyon)
Next up is Lyon’s irrepressible Fekir, who has been linked with a move to the EPL for more than a year now.
Last summer saw the French international’s proposed move to Liverpool fall through, for example, whilst Spurs were also linked with a big-money move prior to the loan signing of Giovanni Lo Celso.
Even Chelsea have been linked with a move for the talented number 10, and they’re in the midst of an international transfer ban!
The mercurial Fekir started 24 Ligue 1 games in total last year, scoring nine goals and assisting seven for his teammates. He also completed a total of 2.3 key passes per 90 minutes in 2018/19, and the only concerns that Spurs may have could revolve around a series of recurring knee injuries.
- Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Last, but not least, we come to Kai Havertz, with the younger German star having been linked to Spurs for a while now.
He’s not a like-for-like replacement for Eriksen, however, with this tall and quick midfielder better known for his running and shooting than his underlying guile.
To this end, Havertz fired off more shots per game last season than any other Bundesliga player, whilst he also completed a deceptively high number of dribbles.
Not only this, but Havertz also boasts more tactical awareness and positional versatility than Eriksen, whilst he’s calm and cool enough under pressure to maintain possession in the heat of an EPL contest.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino may also favour Havertz’ defensive work rate, which have helped the player to earn favourable comparisons with the legendary Michael Ballack.
