“It stops the rumours and he can be focused on playing football only”.
Advertisement
And Pochettino insists the new deal, reportedly worth around £70,000 a week, is proof that the club remain happy with his displays.
Eriksen was a top performer in the Tottenham side which made a strong push for the Premier League title last season before they tailed off and finished third.
However, following that impressive surge to prominence, the full-back let his performances dip and he faced a myriad of difficulties during his Tottenham career, including losing his place, suffering a serious pelvic injury that ruled him out for nine months – missing the World Cup 2014 in Brazil as a result. It’s not about money, the performance.
“I think it is also now for everyone more hard than ever to sign players – the money, the salaries, the agents. But no doubt about Christian he is very important player for us, as he was for a few years”.
Pochettino has been busy in the summer transfer market to bolster the squad, with the signings of Victor Wanyama from Southampton, Dutch forward Vincent Janssen and 21-year-old winger Georges-Kevin Nkoudou from Marseille while France global Moussa Sissoko arrived from Newcastle on deadline day in a £30million deal.
Spurs upped their initial offer for Sissoko and he left Everton in the lurch before signing a five-year contract at White Hart Lane in a deal the midfielder described as a “necessity”.
Pochettino said he was unconcerned by the lateness of the deals and praised Sissoko’s ability, with a potential debut at Stoke to come on Saturday.
“I was relaxed as the window was closing – I was in Spain!”
“At the end we have to be happy, we have ahead a lot of games, seven in [around] 20 days, so it’s important for us as a squad that all the players believe they can play”.
Pochettino added: “Sissoko is a player who can help us a lot”. You know how he is, last season at Newcastle and the Euros what he did was fantastic.
“It is all up to this season, how we perform, because if we reach Europe, and that is our challenge, it will be more easy to get these kind of players”.
“So I reacted in a forceful manner and came out of my technical area, which this year you are not allowed to do, and sometimes you forget that. I think that was a ideal victory for us”.
Advertisement
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is available again after recovering a hamstring problem of his own and is likely to replace understudy Michel Vorm.
