Jeff Graceffo - Tottenham Acquire Eriksen & Lamela by Jeff Graceffo

With just three days remaining in the transfer window, Tottenham continued their spending spree by acquiring AS Roma's Erik Lamela and Ajax's Christian Eriksen. This brings Tottenham's total outlay to  over 110 million pounds. They have shattered their reputation as a club that spends little, while selling their top players.


The 30 million Euro purchase of Lamela is a club record eclipsing their recent purchase of Roberto Soldado. Lamela is expected to be Gareth Bale's replacement. Those are big expectations for the 21 year old Argentine. I'm not sure if he'll be in their line-up in the North London Derby tomorrow but I'm excited to watch him play.

Meanwhile, the Eriksen acquisition is nothing short of a bargain. It's chairman Daniel Levy at his best. In a move that reminds me of their acquisition of Rafael van der Vaart, Levy acquired one of Europe's highly rated players for half of his valuation.  Eriksen, who led Ajax to three consecutive Eredivisie championships is rumored to be worth 20 million pounds on the market, but since his contract is up at the end of the year, Levy got him for just more than half of that amount. If he's able to resign the Danish youngster then it will be a coup.

As the transfer window winds down, Tottenham gave their fans plenty to be excited about even as they're about to lose their Welsh talisman.  If their North London rivals, Arsenal, fail to make a splash then it's clear that Tottenham are set to eclipse them in the competition for the top four. Their derby tomorrow may signal the turning point after seventeen consecutive years of Arsenal finishing ahead of them.

by Jeff Graceffo

For more on this topic:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23908461
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1756620-tottenham-transfer-news-christian-eriksen-is-best-signing-of-summer-for-spurs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2407480/Christian-Eriksen-signs-Tottenham-11-5m-deal.html