Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas- Boas has compared new signing Christian Eriksen to Rafael Van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder. Tottenham signed Eriksen from Ajax for £11.5 million in the final week of the transfer window. Such comparisons will be flattering for Eriksen, as the above-mentioned players have enjoyed glittering careers after their time at Ajax.
"What we did in the transfer market is in the expectancy of these players becoming world stars," the Portuguese manager told the Tottenham Journal. "I think what happened with Christian is a bit like what happened with Van der Vaart and Sneijder when they were at Ajax."
Speaking about the decision of the players to leave the club, Villas-Boas said, "They reached a moment in their careers where they became extremely important for the team, and the club that goes there and gets them makes a great transfer move, and we expect great things of Christian Eriksen," he continued. "We would like to develop him into becoming that type of important player for us as well."
Tottenham play Norwich city in the Premier League on Saturday, a game that could see Eriksen make his debut.
"Will he be in the line-up this weekend? There is a big possibility but it's not a certainty yet," Villas-Boas explained. "The market finished last Monday and we signed three players that trained for the first time with us on Friday two weeks ago. They have since departed to international duty, and we've just seen him back today."
Eriksen was signed alongside Erik Lamela and Vlad Chiriches in what was a busy day for the club. The three joined Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and Nacer Chadli as the new acquisitions in the off-season.
With regard to Eriksen, Lamela and Chiriches, Villas-Boas considers it too early for them to be starters in his team.
"To train with the team, to have the experiences with their colleagues, or Eriksen, for Vlad and Lamela, they haven't had enough time to bond together so it's something we have to work on," he concluded.
