Danny Rose has said it is “vital” Tottenham Hotspur do not lose Christian Eriksen this summer.
Eriksen is out of contract at the end of next season and has been linked with a number of clubs across Europe including Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
The Dane scored the winning goal as Spurs beat Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday night to strengthen their hold on third place.
After the game, Mauricio Pochettino revealed Eriksen is willing to discuss a new contract with the club but not until the end of the season.
And Rose believes Tottenham must do everything possible to ensure his teammate stays put beyond the summer transfer window.
“It’s obviously vital [that Eriksen stays]. If you look over the five years that the manager’s been here, Christian has played the most games and that says a lot,” Rose said (via Sky Sports).
“When Christian doesn’t play, there are questions that we don’t look the same. He links everything up for us.
“The lads in the changing room trust the people upstairs to hopefully get him to sign.
“We have every possible foundation at the club – the training ground, the stadium now, the fan-base, the players. But it’s not just the foundations that attract players and make players want to stay.
“It’s out of the players’ control. We just have to trust that the people upstairs are going to do whatever they see fit to help us make that next step.
“We know that our manager is a winner. He demands the best from us and he wants to win something as well.
“So while everybody is on the same page, we can just look forward to next season and see what it brings.”
Eriksen’s performances have been somewhat inconsistent this season and some Spurs fans have suggested selling him wouldn’t be the end of the world.
But games like Tuesday’s prove the 27-year-old importance; he is often the only player able to open up the opponent in tight contests.
With that in mind, there are probably more Tottenham supporters who share Rose’s opinion than those who don’t.
Eriksen May have had some not so impressive games this season as did most of the players who took part in the World Cup.
However the simple fact is, if Eriksen doesn’t play well the team doesn’t function.
That’s how important he is, to replace him with someone of similar qualities would be very difficult and extremely expensive.
It makes sense to keep him happy and hopefully keep him at Tottenham.
At 70/80k a week we’ve had a great deal, now pay him what he’s worth.
and Toby as well also lets welcome the spammers on Saturday with a nice spiked Italian dish