This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Daniel Levy could still be the big winner from Christian Eriksen’s transfer saga.
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has reportedly informed the club that he does not intend to sign a new contract even after the appointment of Jose Mourinho as manager.
It is currently set to expire at the end of the season and he can sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in the January transfer window, should he so wish. Both Inter Milan and Juventus have been credited with an interest.
Yet The Athletic reported earlier this week that £25m was viewed as a fair price for the Denmark international and that is where Levy comes in.
Reports in the summer suggested that he attempted to sell Eriksen to Real Madrid but that they weren’t interested – he had valued him at over £100m.
That a deal didn’t come to fruition is not necessarily Levy’s fault there; Real have an overload of attacking players already.
Now, then, comes the time for him to earn his money and remove a millstone from Spurs’ neck.
It makes sense for Eriksen to be sold in January to any bidder that comes knocking and, if Levy can extract £25m from any buying club, one has to say that it is terrific business.
After all, this is a player who has struggled throughout the start of the season, scoring two goals and registering just two assists in 16 games.
His value is surely ever decreasing and receiving any type of fee for a player so out of sorts would be a major win for the Spurs chairman.
It could then be reinvested into the squad, with Jose Mourinho likely to want to bring in some new faces, while Spurs would finally be free of a player who has, for all the world, appeared to be in a bit of a strop since the summer.
It isn’t a £100m deal but anything is better than nothing; if Levy moves Eriksen on in January, he has to chalk it up as a personal victory.
Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to a report detailing the club’s plans ahead of the January transfer window.