Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has personally intervened to help ensure Christian Eriksen signs a new contract with the club.
Eriksen and his agent had been locked in talks with Spurs since March but a breakthrough has finally been made.
The Dane is close to signing a new four-year deal at White Hart Lane, worth around £70,000 a week, which will keep him at Tottenham until 2020 and extend his current commitment by two years.
It is understood negotiations were accelerated by Pochettino, who stepped in after growing concerned the issue was becoming a distraction for his player.
Eriksen has been out of sorts so far this season and was particularly poor against Crystal Palace two weeks ago when Pochettino substituted him in the second half.
The midfielder had always been keen to stay at Tottenham, having pinned his hopes on playing in the Champions League. He bought a new house in London this summer and his girlfriend has recently started working in the capital.
The 24-year-old, however, rejected Spurs’ first offer of fresh terms, which came significantly below the club’s top earners.
Eriksen currently earns around £35,000 a week while Hugo Lloris, Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembélé are all paid around double that amount.
Lloris, Pochettino’s captain and goalkeeper, is believed to earn around £80,000 a week.
Negotiations remained cordial throughout the summer but they had reached a stalemate last month, before Pochettino persuaded both sides they needed to come to a resolution.
While the basic terms have now been agreed, the formalities of the deal are still to be ironed out and an announcement is unlikely to come during the international break.
Pochettino’s intervention is another show of his increasing influence in off-field matters at Tottenham.
The 44-year-old was made “manager”, rather than “head coach”, after signing a new five-year contract at the end of last season.
(The Guardian)