[ad_pod ]
Mauricio Pochettino has said that he wants Christian Eriksen to stay at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
Speaking at the British Grand Prix, via Football.London, he confirmed that, while he did not know what would happen, he hoped to be working with the Denmark international in the 2019/20 season.
This is notable for a number of reasons but firstly because reports suggest that chairman Daniel Levy is actively trying to find a buyer for the playmaker.
One report suggested that he actually phoned Real Madrid to offer the Spanish club the opportunity to secure Eriksen’s signature.
Of course, this comes after the midfielder revealed that he could leave the club this summer in the wake of the Champions League final.
Are Levy and Pochettino in disagreement, then? Football FanCast looks at three possible reasons for this apparent discrepancy below…
Division
Perhaps Pochettino does want to keep Eriksen around but Levy feels his time is up.
This would be worrying for Spurs fans; you want to have your chairman and your manager on the same page.
Levy, of course, is the deal maker and he has already secured the transfers of Tanguy Ndombele and Jack Clarke this summer.
Pochettino is said to be keen on a number of new signings, still, with Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon continually linked with the club.
Maybe the only way for those deals to happen is to sell a major star and reinvest the funds, but Pochettino could want to sign the two stars to play alongside Eriksen.
One has to feel that this isn’t the most likely explanation but it is certainly possible.
Smokescreen
Pochettino and Levy could well be on the same page and this is just a ploy to drum up more interest.
The Argentine talked up Eriksen’s skills in the interview and labelled him one of the best talents he has worked with.
That could well be Pochettino’s way of bringing in some enquiries from other clubs.
It does not appear very likely that Real will come knocking this summer – they have been heavily linked with Manchester United’s Paul Pogba – and maybe this is, essentially, a come-and-get-him plea to other clubs or at the very least, an attempt to sustain Eriksen’s value in the market with his contract winding down.
As previously mentioned, Pochettino seems to have his own targets and they will need funding. He will know that as well as Levy. Eriksen is the most saleable asset they currently have, but no club ever got a better deal by admitting they’re looking to cash-in.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Olive branch
No matter how hard they try, Spurs simply may not be able to sell Eriksen this summer.
Real seem to have other targets, he doesn’t seem very interested in Manchester United and there aren’t many other ways he can turn.
Indeed, Juventus have done a fair bit of business this summer, while Barcelona have signed Antoine Griezmann.
This, then, may well be an olive branch.
Eriksen did admit that he could well stay at Spurs if no interest is forthcoming and it seems like that scenario may well play out – as recently speculated by The Guardian.
As such, Pochettino will have to reintegrate him into his plans regardless of the number of transfers the club pull off in this window.
Talking him up is the perfect way to kickstart that process.