Daniel Levy's Imaginary Shortlist: Christian Eriksen

Let's face it, this one's been coming for a while. Let's just get it out of the way, shall we? Christian Eriksen, the next biggest thing in Europe, for your consideration.

The Basics

Name: Christian Danneman Eriksen

Age: 20

Team: Ajax

League: Eredivise (Netherlands)

Primary position: Attacking midfield

Can also play: Centre midfield

An underwhelming Euros tournament last year aside could not dent the unstoppable rise of the star of Christian Eriksen, widely regarded as the prized asset of an extremely talented young Ajax side. A classic No. 10 that could double up as deep-lying metronome, and widely renowned for his eye for a killer pass, Eriksen has the raw technical ability and footballing intelligence to slot straight into this current Spurs side as our new playmaker.

The Specifics

Since the age of 17, Christian Eriksen has been tipped for great things at Ajax, picked out as a spiritual successor to Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder by none other than Spurs favourite and former Ajax coach Martin Jol. Following a rapid breakthrough to his side's first team in 2010, Eriksen has made 31 appearances for the Danish national side, scoring two goals. He's become the undisputed creative fulcrum for his team in a very short space of time and is widely regarded as a top target for every European club with a big enough bank balance to making netting him a possibility.

An attacking midfielder by trade, Eriksen pulls the strings for Ajax by using his immense dribbling, ball control and passing abilities to unlock defences. His slight frame only adds to his mobility and dynamism as a playmaker, and it is not difficult (and very exciting) to visualize him building flight-footed attacking moves off of the solid base provided by Sandro and Mousa Dembele. And to top it all off, he's proven a handy finisher when the opportunity presents itself.

Of course, the appetite (and need, naturally) for a move for Eriksen will have been dampened in light of Tottenham's recent announcement that Lewis Holtby, who plays broadly the same advanced string-pulling role, will be joining us from Schalke in the summer. If we're talking hypothetics, however, it's not completely unfeasible that one or both could adjust to a deeper role in order to give Andre Villas-Boas flexibility and outrageous quality depth going forwards in the seasons to come.

The Verdict

Likely price: ~£20 million.

Probability that valuation is wrong: Zero. He's one of the most coveted young players currently plying his trade in Europe.

Team's willingness to sell: Ajax are likely to hardball any potential suitors, but they know they can't hold on to Eriksen forever.

Fit at Tottenham Hotspur: Either in the No.10 role ahead of a Sandro/Dembele pairing or repurposed as a deep-lying orchestrator, Eriksen would add guile and proven creativity to an already solid Tottenham lineup.

Possibility he ends up at Spurs: Very low. Eriksen himself doesn't exactly seem desperate for move in this window at least (though as previously hinted, an eventual elite move for him seems almost inevitable at this point), and even if a Premier League switch does become attractive to him in the near future, we have to be battling away interest from some of Europe's elite clubs, with Manchester City widely acknowledged to be interested in securing his signature.

Grade if this transfer goes through at likely price: A if you're a serious depth lover, B- if you're worried about squad redundancies and overspending in January.