Spurs should beat Arsenal to £35m deal for world class midfielder

It seems Cristian Eriksen’s days at Tottenham are numbered. In which case, the club need to immediately look for a replacement at the highest level.

Italian press have previously reported that Madrid are confident of signing the Danish international for €50m-€60m. With his contract due to expire next summer, Spurs would surely have to accept such a high amount of money, with no signs of the Dane renewing any time soon.

Few appear more appropriate than Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek. The Dutch international has been in brilliant form this season, in both the league and the Champions League.

And now the 6ft tall midfielder is being linked with a number of top European clubs, including the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham. This is certainly a player that Spurs should be trying to sign and beating their bitter rivals to the signing is very important.

Van de Beek would cost around £35million, but the ability he has already shown more than justifies that price tag. He is likely to continue to improve too, aged just 22, there is very little downside to making this move.

With 9 goals and 10 assists in the Eredivisie this season, the playmaker is very productive in front of goal and would immediately fill that gap vacated by Eriksen should he leave.

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Like Eriksen, he is not just a playmaker, but a player able to carry the ball between the lines, great at dribbling past opponents, gliding into the final third before making a decisive key pass.

The Ajax #6 is not a player who just keeps the game ticking, in fact he has averaged just 26.3 passes this season with just a 78.9% success rate. On the face of it that is very poor, but when he is on the ball he is very efficient.

Despite so few passes, he averaged 1.2 key passes per game, 1.5 shots and 0.6 dribbles. A limitation of the midfielder is his lack of involvement in tough games. Playing with him can make it difficult to dominate possession.