This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Real Madrid playmaker Isco and Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen could swap clubs in January, per Mundo Deportivo.
What’s the word?
The report states that the Spain international is deemed expendable by Los Blancos as the next transfer window draws closer.
Real would like to receive around €70m (£60.2m) for his signature, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Juventus also reported to be interested.
However, Eriksen is deemed as a potential replacement for Isco and, as such, Mundo Deportivo claims that Spurs would be open to a swap, though they are not said to be willing to pay the fee demanded by the Spanish giants.
Too good to be true
This feels like one plus one equals three.
Isco has struggled with injuries this season and has just four La Liga appearances to his name, though he has not managed to complete the 90 minutes even once.
Last season, he made a total of 11 starts in the domestic league and completed the entire game on just three occasions.
One has to ask, then, why Real would need to replace him if he did depart.
Eriksen, of course, is attainable due to his contract situation and various reports have stated that he has long wanted a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
While Isco is a hugely talented player – he has scored 48 goals and provided 52 assists for Real in 281 appearances and also won 38 caps for Spain – it doesn’t feel feasible to consider Spurs being offered the chance to take him in exchange for a player who would be available on a free in the summer anyway.
Isco’s contract, in comparison, doesn’t expire until 2o22 and thus his value is much better protected.
Add in the fact that Spurs don’t really want to pay the fee needed to extricate him – suggesting their interest in Isco isn’t particularly strong – and the argument falls flat on its face.
