Real Madrid have been linked to Tottenham attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen for months, and it sounds like there’s a serious chance of this deal happening in the winter.
Christian Eriksen has made it clear that he wants to leave Tottenham, as he’s turned aside the club’s contract offers. Following the team’s blowout losses to Bayern Munich and Brighton (yikes!), Eriksen seems more inclined to leave, and the implication has always been that he’s preferred Real Madrid as his “next challenge”.
But there’s been some question as to how much Real should want Eriksen. They already have two talented attacking midfielders in Isco and James Rodriguez. When Eriksen was linked to Real in the summer, the logic was that James would be sold. However, the Colombian has remained with the team and is playing world-class football for Los Blancos, having just scored his first return goal.
Yet despite the talent at attacking midfield, which includes Toni Kroos now that he’s playing a more advanced role, Real Madrid are reportedly seriously considering signing Eriksen this winter.
MARCA’s Jose Felix Diaz reports that Los Blancos will start negotiating with Eriksen in 2020, as the Denmark international has told Tottenham that he won’t re-sign with the club before his contract runs out next summer.
Although it would make more sense for Real to pursue Eriksen in the summer when he’d be free, there may be other suitors for Eriksen this winter. And while Real would seemingly be the preferred destination for a playmaking midfielder in their prime, there are other highly competitive clubs who could pique Eriksen’s interest if the right offer came along.
Tottenham, of course, have the incentive to get a deal done in the winter. They cannot afford to lose a player of Eriksen’s caliber for free, especially after gambling on the chances of him re-signing after failing to sell him in the summer.
Fede Valverde’s emergence as a box-to-box midfielder has been huge, because it allows Real to pursue a “luxury” player like Eriksen, whose value mostly stems from set pieces, longshots, and key passes; he is one of the best passers in the world.
It will be interesting to see how Eriksen, Kroos, James, and Luka Modric would work together in the same team. And Real do need to get younger in the attacking midfield, whereas signing Eriksen would give them another player who is 27 or older. If Eriksen were to be signed, it would have to come at the right price and Isco would likely be sold to Serie A.
While it would be more prudent for Real to listen to Zinedine Zidane and pass on a potentially redundant signing when they could conceivably pursue him for free if needed, Real may view this as an opportunity to add another quality piece in their pursuit of trophies this campaign.