Spurs to demand £80m for Christian Eriksen after Real Madrid target tells club he wants to quit this transfer window

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN has finally confirmed he wants to leave Tottenham – but the club will demand £80million for him.

The Denmark ace’s admission yesterday that he wants to “try something new” did not come as any great shock to any of us who have watched him for Spurs at close quarters in recent months.

But Eriksen faces being stuck at Spurs after chairman Daniel Levy slapped the whopping price tag on his head.

His performances and personna, by and large, bore all the hallmarks of a player who has had his head turned.

Real Madrid is his preferred destination and Eriksen, with just one year left on his Spurs deal, is hoping to engineer a cut-price £40m switch to the Bernabeu.

DOUBLE IT

But Levy will not sell unless he is offered double that amount — which is more than Real are willing to pay.

That could be embarrassing for Eriksen who, having stalled on Tottenham’s offer of a new deal worth £150,000 a week, told Danish paper Ekstra Bladet yesterday: “I feel that I am a place in my career where I might want to try something new.

“I have the widest and deepest respect for everything that has happened in Tottenham and nor will it be negative if I stay.

“But I have also said that I would like to try something new.

“There are not many points that Tottenham cannot meet. If I have to go, then hopefully it will be a step up.”

Asked about Real Madrid, Eriksen said: “It is a step up. But it requires Real Madrid to call Tottenham and say they want me. And they have not done so yet, as far as I know.”

Eriksen, who joined Tottenham from Ajax for a bargain £10.9m in 2013, was speaking ahead of Denmark’s Euro 2020 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

He refused to discuss his future before or after Spurs’ 2-0 Champions League final defeat by Liverpool on Saturday.

But he added: “I hope there will be a clarification during the summer. That’s the plan.

“Everyone wants it best if it happens as soon as possible, but in football takes things time.

“It depends on Daniel Levy. And another club has to come in. Or I have to sit down at the table and negotiate a new contract. You can’t set a date yourself.”

SPURS STAY?

And with Real Madrid baulking at Levy’s valuation, Eriksen admits he could end up staying at Spurs.

He said: “It is hard. It depends on the possibilities and nothing pops up that is more exciting, why not stay in Tottenham?

“If I then sign a new contract, depends on the conditions.”

The stats will show Eriksen finished the season with the joint-third highest number of assists in the Premier League - 12.

He will go down in Tottenham history as a member of the squad which reached the Champions League final for the first time after defying the odds in such  thrilling and dramatic fashion.

But it was probably his most disappointing campaign for Spurs since he joined them nearly six years ago, especially after Christmas when his dipped alarmingly.

There have always been question marks about Eriksen’s ability to produce the goods for Tottenham on the really big occasions. But even then he would show his prowess as a decent flat-track bully.

HEAD TURNED?

Yet in the second half of this term he even failed to dominate lesser opponents. Games, with the odd exception, passed him by.

You could clearly see something was not quite right, and not just on the pitch.

Eriksen’s agent Martin Schoots is confident there will be no shortage of interest in his player.

He said: “Last season there were three clubs, two English and one foreign, interested in paying a huge amount to Spurs.

“For the club it was then a no-go area and for Christian not a must-have. I have the impression we are in a new situation now.”

Real Madrid have already signed Eintract Frankfurt striker Luka Jovic for £60m and are close to an expensive deal for Chelsea’s Eden Hazard.

There is no doubt the £10.9m signing has given £100m of value to Tottenham in his six years at the club.

But there is no way with a year remaining on his deal he is a £100m player. He is not even worth the £80m Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is asking for. Never has been either.

Always previously polite and courteous to journalists, he stopped giving interviews in mixed zones after matches - one of the classic tell-tale signs of a player intending to leave.

And at Tottenham’s brilliantly run media day ahead of the final against Liverpool, Eriksen appeared 30 minutes after his team-mates before only speaking to a few, mainly Scandinavian, broadcasters.

It was to be expected, though, as since January he had insisted on the fulfilling only the bare minimum of community and media duties.

What a stark contrast to his behaviour at the start of the season when, even though his contract talks with the club were still on ice, his outlook was far warmer.

Before Tottenham kicked off their Champions League bid at Inter Milan in September, I did a pool interview with Eriksen over the telephone on behalf of all national newspapers.

When asked about his future, he said he was concentrating on football and that his agent was dealing with it.

I thanked him for his time and he told me to make sure I made it clear he was happy to stay at Tottenham.

Nine months later he says he wants to leave.

Levy is believed to be annoyed Eriksen has waited until he is back in Denmark out of Tottenham’s jurisdiction, before making his comments.

That could come back to haunt the playmaker, who probably thought they would put him in the shop window.

But with Real Madrid not willing to pay over the odds and Tottenham refusing to sell on the cheap this tactic may backfire on Eriksen.

He could find himself sitting in that window for longer than Bagpuss did.