Football Insider have revealed that Manchester United paid a signing-on fee of £12m to Christian Eriksen to beat Tottenham to the Dane’s signature.
At one point earlier this summer reports indicated that Spurs were one of the favourites to snap up Eriksen on a free transfer after his contract with Brentford ran out (ESPN).
However, the fairytale return to North London did not materialise for the 30-year-old, who ended up linking up with Erik Ten Hag at Old Trafford.
David Ornstein explained on The Athletic’s YouTube channel (starting at 7:20) back in July that the contract length and salary Eriksen demanded did not match what Spurs had in mind, which is why Antonio Conte’s men pulled the plug on the deal.
Football Insider have now explained that United did not only give the former Spurs star a three-year contract worth £200,000-a-week and also handed him a £12m signing-on fee.
That means that the attacking midfielder will be earning £43m across the three years of his agreement.
The report adds that both Spurs and Brentford had made contract offers to Eriksen but neither club were willing to match what the Red Devils had offered the player.
Spurs Web Opinion
Even though there was no transfer fee involved, paying £43m for a player who is now 30 years of age, does seem excessive.
The Dane would have likely only been a bit-part player at Spurs since Conte is not going to shift from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2, given the firepower we have upfront.
So, I believe Tottenham were right to step away from the deal, rather than making Eriksen our joint highest-paid player.
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