Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham will hope they can improve on last season, which saw them come agonisingly close to winning the ultimate European prize, but they haven't exactly had the most productive time in the transfer market of late. 

If ever there was a time to act in the market, it’s now. Spurs haven’t made a single signing since the 2017-18 campaign when they signed Champions League hero Lucas Moura in January, for one reason or another. However, with the new stadium complete and a squad in clear need of investment, surely it's time to follow the new path Pochettino has previously talked about.

The Argentine's task hasn’t been made any easier by recent revelations, though. Christian Eriksen, who provided 10 goals and 17 assists last season, has announced his intention to seek new challenges outside of north London; prompting long-term admirers Real Madrid to swoop in for his signature if The Sun’s reports are true.

Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid side have already signed Premier League diamond Eden Hazard this summer, alongside five other high profile signings, including Luka Jovic, Eder Militao and Rodrygo (totalling £272million, as per Transfermarkt). But their spending spree doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon as they shape up a bid of £45million plus Spain under-21 prodigy Dani Ceballos in an attempt to prise the Denmark international away.

With the exchange deal in mind, we’re going to take a look at the possible knock-on effects of Ceballos joining Spurs…

Offensive output blunted

We think it’s fair to say that, without Eriksen in midfield, the club would be missing a major attacking threat. Ceballos might eventually turn out to be a long-term heir but expecting him to instantly replicate a player of Eriksen's quality is perhaps unfair.

As it stands, Moussa Sissoko, Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama, Harry Winks and Dele Alli are the only current players who can step into the central midfield role. And this is a major worry, especially if they’re to perform in front of goal like they did during the recently completed Premier League season.

Collectively, the fivesome produced nine league goals and nine assists between them. While Eriksen, the club’s creative talisman, managed eight and 12 respectively (as per WhoScored). While obviously not a regular starter, Ceballos didn’t fare much better in La Liga either, netting three times in 12 appearances.

At that rate, even more pressure would be put on the likes of Lucas Moura, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to produce upfront.

One for the future

Still, should Spurs sign Ceballos then the future is most certainly bright. It's just the present that might suffer for the reason talked about above.

The Madrid youngster, who rose through the ranks of Real Betis’ youth system, dons some pretty impressive statistics this season. For example, while Christian Eriksen’s pass success rate sits at a lowly 81%, the Spaniard successfully converts his 92.6% of the time. And though Eriksen does attempt just over nine more passes per game (53.5) it’s hard to criticise Ceballos’ efforts with 44.1.

Under Pochettino, who has already helped youngster Harry Winks reach 102 appearances for Spurs, it could be a match made in footballing heaven in years to come.

The Verdict

It's not hard to argue that the Spaniard would be a strong addition for the future but, right now, he's not exactly shown he can replicate Eriksen's numbers. Granted, there is less data to go off due to his fairly bit-part role in the Spanish capital (he made just 13 league starts last season), but it would be optimistic to assume he could be a direct replacement.

If Spurs were to consider this apparent offer they'd be getting an exciting talent but further investment would still be required to replace the Dane.

Spurs fans, do you agree with our predictions? Let us know in the comments below…