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Barcelona transfer prediction made about Tottenham star Christian Eriksen
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN may be thinking about leaving Tottenham for Barcelona if things don’t go his way.
Spurs ‘working hard’ to secure Eriksen deal says Pochettino
That is the view of Sky Sports pundit Andy Townsend.
Eriksen currently has 18 months left to run on his Tottenham deal, and while they have managed to tie down Harry Kane and Dele Alli to long-term contract extensions, Eriksen’s future remains up in the air.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the cluster of Europe’s clubs interested in signing the Denmark international.
Mauricio Pochettino seems relatively unworried about Eriksen’s situation, but Townsend thinks Barca could come in for the 26-year-old unless his contract situation is resolved quickly.
“Spurs will want to get this nailed down, but only if they are absolutely 100 per cent committed to do so," Townsend told The Debate.
"He is a smart footballer.
"His goalscoring record over the past few seasons has been decent for a midfield player, he's extremely creative and offers Spurs something different, he gives them that bit of guile and creativity.
"But I just wonder if his heart is potentially elsewhere.
Or he thinks 'if I'm going to go to Barcelona, I've got to go now'
“Eriksen has been at Spurs for a while and they've not quite got over the line.
"This deal is a key transfer deal for him; either he commits full-bloodied to Spurs now and trusts what Pochettino is doing and hopes they add whatever they need to get over the line, or he thinks 'if I'm going to go to Barcelona, I've got to go now'."
Fellow Sky Sports pundit Don Hutchison thinks that Eriksen is faced with a big decision.
He said: “Eriksen would be the last person Spurs fans would want to see leave.
“He may be waiting to see what Pochettino might want to do.
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"The romantic in me thinks that the majority of the players signing new contracts want to go into the new stadium and want to play well, because that may be the difference between Spurs being also-rans and maybe winning the title.
"Eriksen has got a decision to make, he's 26 and the big move might be there.
“But he's still probably nowhere near his prime, he's probably a year or two away from that."
Tottenham are back in Premier League action on Saturday (5.30pm) at home to Chelsea.