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Forget Kane – This £75,000-a-week superstar is one player Tottenham cannot afford to play without

Christian Eriksen

Forget Kane, why Eriksen is one player Tottenham cannot afford to play without

Since Mauricio Pochettino took charge of Tottenham in 2014, the club has transformed from a modest team to one that can challenge for major trophies and they have proved the same by narrowly missing out on Premier League titles for the past two seasons.

When most people think of Spurs’ rise in world football, they normally associate it with England international Harry Kane, who has transformed himself into one of the world’s best strikers. Pep Guardiola infamously referred to Spurs as the ‘Harry Kane team’ earlier this season but one other player who has been a conductor of Spurs and perhaps an unsung hero is Christian Eriksen.

The absence of Eriksen against Southampton during the weekend demonstrated the Dane’s importance to the side as Spurs dropped crucial points, settling for a 1-1 draw at the St. Mary’s stadium. The intelligence and moves that destroyed Everton last Saturday were evidently lacking, due to the absence of Eriksen.

Eriksen, who earns £75,000-a-week, missed the trip to Southampton due to flu and Spurs missed their main creator and suffered a blow in their aims of securing a top-4 finish. He’s a world-class talent in terms of finding space and is normally the main playmaker who provides Kane with opportunities.

The 25-year-old has played 28 games in all competitions so far this season, contributing 8 goals and 8 assists. Eric Dier recently highlighted the importance of his team-mate saying:

“Christian plays an important role in the team. He is one of the links between phases of play and is key in that regard. He can create chances and score goals,” said Eric Dier.

“He is a fantastic player. We have a great squad but there are not many players like Christian. It was a difficult game and Southampton did well. We could not control the game the way we would like to. They defended well but we would like to create more chances.”

Sunday was the first Premier League match that Eriksen failed to feature this season and Tottenham’s performance highlighted just how badly Spurs need to tie him down to a new deal – just as they also need to do with the likes of Kane and Dele Alli.

Eriksen has reportedly entered talks with Spurs over a new contract amidst interest from Juventus. Should he leave the Lilywhites in the future, the club could go into a downward spiral in a similar way to how many feel that the club will move downhill should Kane end up joining Real Madrid at the end of this season.