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What's the story?
Former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotpur striker Dimitar Berbatov has questioned Christian Eriksen's ability to make it to the starting eleven at Real Madrid, should the midfielder end up joining the Spanish giants in the next few months.
In case you didn't know...
Real Madrid are reportedly prepared to make a move for Eriksen in the January transfer window, despite knowing the fact that the midfielder's contract at Spurs is set to expire next summer.
The 27-year-old was tipped for an exit over the summer and is now heavily linked to the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and Inter Milan, following Tottenham's dismal start to their campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino's men are 13 points adrift of Premier League leaders, Liverpool, after registering only three wins in their first eight games. They currently sit in ninth place on the table with their top-four spot appearing to be under serious threat from Chelsea, Arsenal and Leicester City.
Eriksen recently conceded that he is undergoing the toughest spell of his Spurs career, thereby refuelling rumours of his departure from the north London club.
The heart of the matter
Berbatov has expressed his doubts on Eriksen's ability to make it to the starting eleven at Real Madrid, adding that the battle for a place in the squad would be a massive challenge for him.
The former Tottenham and Manchester United star was quoted as saying by AS,
"Real Madrid have a brilliant team and Eriksen needs to know that going there would represent a massive challenge. They've got Kroos, Modric, Isco, Hazard… all of them are tried-and-tested players, world class midfielders.
"And yes, it's true that some of them have been there for a while and are starting to get old but they still have a very strong side.
"So Eriksen will need to ask himself if he's ready to fight for his place because you can't just go to Madrid and expect to play straight away. Even Hazard has had difficulties at the start with Real Madrid. Any player can go through the same there."
He added,
"Sometimes you need to leave your comfort zone and if that's where Eriksen is at right now, he won't need to push himself to achieve anything, if that's the case then that's a problem."
What's next?
Tottenham Hotspur will return to action after the international break when they face Watford on October 19th.
