Christian Eriksen is beating Tottenham at their own game

Tottenham continue their efforts to get Christian Eriksen to sign a new contract. His patience could earn him a massive pay-day from Spurs. 

Christian Eriksen is a silky midfielder on the pitch, but over the past few months he’s proved to be even more slippery in his contract negotiations. The waiting game he’s playing with Spurs has a chance to end in a rich pay-day for the talented Danish midfielder.

FC Inter claim that Tottenham are planning to offer Eriksen yet another new contract when he returns from International Break. Per the Italian outlet, Spurs are willing to ink Eriksen to a five-year contract that would pay him over €7.5 million per season. That would obviously make him one of the highest earners in the North London club’s history.

One of the most interesting subplots of Eriksen’s melodrama is the fact that he’s tangling with one of the toughest negotiators in the Premier League. Daniel Levy has a hard-earned reputation as being a nightmare to compete against in the board room. Countless peers have gone on record with their disdain for his miserly negotiating tactics.

The ugly reality here for Levy is that he’s being soundly beaten at his own game. Eriksen and his representatives have played this situation very well if their goal is to get as large a contract as possible at Spurs. Tottenham have shown no inclination to shut down talks and fully prepare for life without their stylish No. 10. Instead, they continue to come back to Eriksen with bigger contract offers as his current deal runs down.

For the record, this isn’t really a criticism of Levy per se. He’s not armed with good cards in this battle. Tottenham can be criticized for allowing Eriksen’s contract to run down this long, but there’s no clear sign that the player was willing to seriously entertain an extension at any reasonable price previously. What is clear is that now it’s going to cost Tottenham dearly if they want Eriksen to remain a part of Mauricio Pochettino’s project.

Speaking of the Argentine gaffer, he may be the club’s one great hope to get out of this mess without too much damage. A personal plea from Pochettino might be enough to bring Eriksen and his agents’ back to the negotiating table. Don’t count out another moment of magic from the Spurs boss.