Tottenham can finally wash their hands of Christian Eriksen

Christian Eriksen enjoyed a brilliant start to his career at Tottenham, but his exit from North London is welcome news for Spurs. 

There was a time during Christian Eriksen’s time at Tottenham when he was arguably the best player Spurs had to offer. Unfortunately for fans of the North London club, the talented Dane hasn’t enjoyed that sort of form in well over a full year. That’s why Tottenham fans should welcome the news that Eriksen is off to Inter Milan this month.

According to Nicolo Schira, nearly all of the details are ironed out in an agreement that will send Eriksen to Serie A in exchange for a modest transfer fee of €18 million. He’s certainly worth more than that in today’s transfer market, but the fact that he only had six months remaining on his current deal forced Spurs to sell him at a significant discount.

Quite a few Tottenham fans will revel in the romanticism of Eriksen’s best form for the club and bemoan his exit. That’s the wrong path for Spurs supporters to take. Instead, they should understand the reality that Eriksen has been a passenger in the squad for the better part of the last 18 months.

That doesn’t mean he’s been a bad player. In fairness, even at 80% of his full capacity he still comfortably profiles as a solid Premier League starter. It does, however, mean that Eriksen hasn’t been the star he’s capable of being for a long stretch of time.

More troubling than his output has been the steady decline in his work rate on the pitch. He’s never been a physical force in the midfield, but early in his Tottenham tenure he did regularly press the opposition tirelessly. That quality has been missing from Eriksen’s game lately.

There’s also a reality that all of the uncertainty around his contract has certainly become a distraction in the club’s dressing room. Both Mauricio Pochettino and now, Jose Mourinho, have worked hard to exonerate Eriksen from any blame for the club’s mediocre form, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t contributed to the team’s emotional struggles.

The simple truth is that Tottenham need to move on from Eriksen as soon as possible. Sending him to Italy is a quality outcome from the club’s perspective. Now it’s time for Mourinho to work on rebuilding his midfield around new players like Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Gedson Fernandes. The sooner Eriksen is forgotten in the Spurs dressing room the better.