MAURICIO POCHETTINO has been urged to axe Tottenham contract rebel Christian Eriksen NOW.
The wantaway Danish midfielder is looking to quit Spurs when his current deal expires next summer.
Harry Redknapp thinks Mauricio Pochettino should ditch Christian Eriksen from the squadCredit: EPA
But former manager Harry Redknapp insists boss Poch should dump him from the first-team squad immediately — and replace him with someone who does want to play for the club.
Redknapp declared: “I don’t see him signing a new contract now. I think he will let it run out and take that option of being a free agent next summer.
“So if he doesn’t want to stay and has made up his mind to go, I’d be looking to play someone else now.
“If he doesn’t want to be part of the team, it’s very difficult — you want people who want to play for the club — and it’s time to say right, OK.”
Harry Redknapp thinks it’s time Spurs got tough with EriksenCredit: PA:Press Association
FORM HAS SLUMPED
Eriksen has been one of the Premier League’s shining lights in recent campaigns and starred in Spurs’ run to the Champions League final last season.
But things have unravelled at the North London club since, with Pochettino’s team lying 14th in the league after just three wins.
Eriksen has struggled this season after failing to force a move away last summer.
He has made just seven starts and did not feature in last week’s home draw with Sheffield United — though he did score twice for Denmark against Gibraltar on Friday.
Redknapp added: “He’s a great player, no doubt. He’s a fantastic footballer, but his form of late has been poor.
“He’s not in form and wants to leave at the end of the year — he’s stated quite plainly he is keen to go, even though Tottenham must have offered him a new contract.”
TWO OTHERS SET TO GO TOO
Spurs face a battle to hang on to a string of key first-team players, with defenders Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld — who like Eriksen are free agents in the summer — also currently on course to depart.
Last week left-back Danny Rose vowed he will not be forced out until his deal ends in 2021 after the club opened the door for him to go last year.
Eriksen, who moved from Ajax to Tottenham in 2013, had been a target for Manchester United but is understood to favour a move to Spain. Yet neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona put in a bid last summer.
Redknapp — who led Spurs to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2011 during a four-year stint — reckons Eriksen holds all the aces as his contract runs down.
He added: “You get to January and see if you can sell him then. But he probably won’t move then because, if he hangs on until the summer and sees his contract out, he’s a free agent.
“Let’s say his value is £50million. When he is a free agent he can go to a club and his agent will say his value is £50m if you bought him.
“Now you are getting him for nothing, so you give him £25m and you will still have a bargain.
“So somebody will give him a big signing-on fee plus his wages, so he is really going to set himself up for life by hanging on now.
“He has gone this far. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. But he has to start playing better anyway to get the move he wants.”
Harry Redknapp was speaking at the University of Gloucestershire’s Media School, where he was interviewed by students from the BA Sports Journalism course. Visit www. twitter.com/basportsjourno for more info.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
