Christian Eriksen: Move away from Spurs ‘nearly impossible’ – Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino says it is “nearly impossible” that Christian Eriksen will leave Tottenham before the transfer window closes in Europe on Monday.

The midfielder, who has been linked with Real Madrid, started his second game of the season at Arsenal on Sunday and scored in a 2-2 draw.

“His mind was clear that he wanted to play,” said Pochettino.

“It’s nearly impossible for something to happen [with a transfer], that’s why it was clear.”

Midfielder Eriksen could leave Tottenham on a free transfer next summer if he does not agree an extension to his current deal, which expires at the end of the season.

Spurs signed French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon for a club record £53.8m this summer, as well as securing the services of Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso on loan from Real Betis.

The Dane opened the scoring in Sunday’s north London derby, following up to tap home after Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno had pushed out Erik Lamela’s shot.

Spurs doubled their lead through Harry Kane’s penalty, awarded for Granit Xhaka’s foul on Son Heung-min, but goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave the Gunners a deserved point.

“Christian Eriksen had a big performance. The whole team had a very good performance,” Pochettino told BBC Sport.

“I enjoyed it a lot. You want to win, but you hope to play these kind of games every week.”

This week, Pochettino dismissed speculation he will leave Tottenham after Sunday’s north London derby with Arsenal as “stupid”, after some bookmakers stopped taking bets on him becoming the first Premier League manager to move on from his job this season.

Last month, he admitted he is “not in charge” of transfers at Tottenham and believes his job title should be changed from manager to coach.

But the Argentine was more upbeat on Sunday, saying: “I am optimistic and happy to work with the squad and try to fight for big things for the club.

“What happened in the past happened in the past and you cannot fix it. It is about drawing a strong line for the future. It’s important to move on and learn from the past.”

Arsenal boss Unai Emery was pleased with his side’s fightback to claim a point, although he felt their failure to “play with their head” cost them a win.

“It was an amazing match,” Emery told BBC Sport. “We are proud of our work and our supporters. The result isn’t the best for us.

“The key was the first goal to give us confidence and give us more chances in the second half. We deserved it. We did a lot of good things. We made some mistakes in the first half and they have good players.

“Before their first goal we were playing well. Sometimes our heart is more strong than our head.”