Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful Christian Eriksen will commit his long-term future to Tottenham after his match-winning performance against Brighton.
The Denmark international has scored eight goals and recorded 17 assists this season as his importance to Pochettino’s side is clear to see. In total, he has scored 47 goals and provided 60 assists in 202 Premier League appearances for the club.
However, the 27-year-old’s deal with Spurs is set to expire in 2020 and there has been speculation linking him with a summer move to Real Madrid.
Pochettino remains calm about the situation and is hopeful Eriksen will sign a deal in the summer.
“Christian is a special person,” he said.
“Timing for him and the club and agreeing something are maybe different to other players. I hope he will be here in the future. We’re close to the end of the season now and it’s about being focused.”
Eriksen broke Brighton’s determined resistance with a stinging long-range effort, which was Spurs’ 21st effort from outside the area on the night.
Pochettino explained it was a tactical decision to shoot from range more in the second half after Brighton dealt with the threat of their wide men in the opening 45 minutes.
“When the opponent plays so deep it is tough to penetrate – we played wide in the first half,” he said.
“They defended really well. We found an alternative and one of the ways was to shoot from outside the box.
“That is football, if you try, try, try you can get reward – it’s unlucky for Brighton.”
(Sky Sports)
