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Inter Milan chief issues Christian Eriksen transfer statement as Tottenham exit draws near
The Italian giants are closing in on Tottenham's playmaker.
Inter Milan CEO Giuseppe Marotta has issued a statement on the club’s pursuit of Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen. The Italian’s registered their interest in signing the Denmark international earlier this month.
Talks with the midfielder’s representatives are understood to have gone well and it’s been claimed the Serie A giants are on the verge of landing their man.
Late last week, it was reported the former Ajax man has agreed personal terms with the Nerazzurri and will undergo a medical in Milan on Monday.
It was also said Inter will pay Spurs £17million for the Dane, whose contract with the north Londoners expires in the summer.
Reports of Inter being close to finalising a deal for the 27-year-old were put to Marotta on Sunday.
We are optimistic and hope the deal can be finalised as soon as possible
And the 62-year-old revealed he’s optimistic the club will snap up the Spurs ace before the transfer window closes on Friday.
“We won’t hide, you all know we’ve been negotiating with Tottenham for some time,” Marotta told DAZN.
“His contract is due to expire on June 30, so the only rights we are discussing are for those six months,” CEO Marotta told DAZN this morning.
“We are optimistic and hope the deal can be finalised as soon as possible, especially as the transfer window closes on Friday.”
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Marotta’s comments on Inter’s pursuit of Eriksen came less than 12 hours after Spurs boss Jose Mourinho lamented the position the club currently finds themselves in regards to the midfielder.
Speaking after Tottenham’s 1—1 draw with Southampton, Mourinho said: “I just want to say that this situation shouldn’t happen on the 25th of January.
“And it is not Tottenham’s fault that on the 25th of January we are in the situation.
“The only thing I can say is Eriksen, since I arrive, he is behaving in a very, very professional way, with me and the team.
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“Tottenham is the last one to blame for this situation, but to be on the 25th of January in a situation like this is not nice.”
Eriksen made his desire to undertake a new challenge known a mere four days after Tottenham lost the Champions League final to Liverpool last June, telling Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet: “I feel that I am at a stage of my career where I would like to try something new.
"I have the deepest respect for everything that is happening at Tottenham and it would not be something negative to stay.
“But I have also said that I would like to try something new.
"I hope that something will be decided this summer. That is the plan.
“In football, you never know when there could be a decision like that. It could be at any point.
"The best thing is always for it to happen quickly, but in football things take time.”
Tottenham’s first match of the post-Eriksen era could very well be next Sunday’s visit of defending Premier League champions Manchester City.