Man United plot Christian Eriksen move as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer puts Tottenham star at heart of summer rebuild

Wanted man: Christian Eriksen
REUTERS
Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP26 April 2019

Manchester United want Christian Eriksen to be a central part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rebuild at Old Trafford.

United’s interest in Eriksen dates to Louis van Gaal’s reign and they are preparing to rival Real Madrid for his signature in the summer.

Both United and Real are aware of the difficulty in negotiating with Daniel Levy but have been encouraged by Eriksen’s reluctance to sign a new contract. The Denmark playmaker has a little over a year remaining on his current £70,000-a-week deal and has stalled on agreeing a new contract, which would more than double his salary.

Spurs still hope to persuade Eriksen to stay but Levy will not allow him to enter the final year of his contract, and firm interest from two of the wealthiest clubs in the world is welcome news if they are ultimately forced to sell the 27-year-old. Spurs would demand more than £60million for Eriksen, who joined from Ajax for £11m in 2013.

Levy would prefer to sell Eriksen to Real rather than strengthen a direct rival and it is unclear if the Dane would be open to a move to United, who could comfortably treble his current salary but are outsiders to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The situation is complicated by Real’s reported interest in United’s Paul Pogba.

Eriksen is unlikely to make any decision on his future until the end of the season.

Mauricio Pochettino said both parties are open to fresh contract negotiations after Eriksen scored a precious late goal in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Brighton. “I hope and wish Christian can be with us in the future,” said the Spurs manager. “I think Christian and us, we are so open to talk and we will see what happens.”

Left-back Danny Rose has called on Levy to do every possible to keep Eriksen, saying: “It’s vital [that he re-signs]. He links everything up for us. The lads in the changing room trust the people upstairs to hopefully get him to sign.”

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Losing Eriksen would be significant blow to Pochettino, who called on his chairman to start a “new chapter” and said Spurs must start “thinking like a big club” on the eve of their move to their new stadium earlier this month.

Tottenham were today assessing Harry Winks and Erik Lamela as they prepare for tomorrow’s Premier League derby against West Ham at their new stadium, but Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko are definitely unavailable.

Meanwhile, Spurs are one of a number of Premier League clubs to have watched 21-year-old Swansea winger Daniel James, who is out of contract at the end of next season.

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