Mauricio Pochettino has said Christian Eriksen has the right to consider a move away from Tottenham and admits the Dane’s future is not entirely in the club’s hands.
Eriksen has 18 months remaining on his current deal and he is stalling on signing a new contract, despite a fresh long-term offer from the club at the end of last year. The two parties remain in talks and Spurs are hopeful Eriksen, who earns £75,000-a-week on the four-year deal he signed in 2016, will agree improved terms.
But if the situation remains unchanged the club would be forced to consider offers for the 26-year-old in the summer, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both thought to admire the playmaker. Speaking ahead of Friday’s FA Cup third-round tie at Tranmere, a relaxed Pochettino insisted Eriksen is happy in north London.
“He is happy here, he is showing his commitment,” Pochettino said. “Then what is going to happen in between him and the club is not only in our hands.
“I’m not a person that suffers too much in this type of situation because football is dynamic. Football is about interests that as managers we sometimes cannot manage. It depends on many things in this business – different parties that have interests.
“Of course Christian Eriksen is such an important player for Tottenham and of course as a person or as a professional coach or manager, you would like to have this type of player with you. But in the end it’s a negotiation and there’s different parties that have different interests.
“It will be fantastic if Christian Eriksen is going to be committed with the club long-term. And if not it’s his right to do what he wants to do.”
Mousa Dembele is another Spurs player running down his contract and the club is expected to listen to offers for the Belgian – who has returned to training after an ankle injury – this month, rather than risk losing him for free next summer.