Tottenham Transfer Rumours: Ajax Raid Would Make Spurs Top-4 Squad

Without question, everything for Tottenham hinges on Gareth Bale. If he goes, the team will have to scrape, fight and claw for a top-four place. If he stays, the team has positioned itself as a legitimate title contender this season.

Especially if two players from Ajax, Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld, are brought aboard. Even if Bale is gone, the pair—alongside newcomers Paulinho and Roberto Soldado—will ensure Tottenham maintain a high level of play. 

With Bale, they guarantee Tottenham will make serious noise in the Premier League this season.

From Steve Stammers of Mirror Football:

"

Tottenham have launched an audacious £15million double bid for Ajax stars Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld. The Spurs move threatens to hijack Liverpool’s interest in the duo. The Reds have been long-time favourites to sign two of Europe’s most gifted young players whose contracts expire next summer.

Both have turned down a string of proposed transfers this summer to wait for the right Premier League club—until now believed to be Liverpool. But while Liverpool have been distracted by the furore surrounding Luis Suarez, Spurs have made their move.

The White Hart Lane club have already spent £52m on new faces. They want to add Eriksen and Alderweireld before reviewing Gareth Bale’s proposed £85m move to Real Madrid.

"

It's pretty unlikely, of course, that Eriksen and Alderweireld would be added and Bale would be retained. Spurs have already spent a lot of money this summer, and adding the Ajax pair would almost assuredly mean Daniel Levy was dipping into the Bale transfer fund before the player was actually sold to Real Madrid. 

Still, the move could also convince the club to hold onto Bale for another season. Despite the unreal fee they would be sacrificing in the process, Tottenham would have a Champions League-level club on their hands—one that could compete for a title and potentially convince Bale to stick around. 

That could ultimately bring a lot of money to the club and make rejecting Real Madrid's insane offer a smart business move down the line.

It's a lot of ifs, of course, and Bale is still likely to go. However, Eriksen alone would make Spurs a top-four club paired with Bale, especially in a summer when Arsenal have remained stagnant on the transfer market. 

If Bale goes, the fight to remain in the top four would be very competitive, especially as Liverpool have improved (but may lose their best player this summer as well, Luis Suarez).

Still, Eriksen would likely take over as this team's talisman. In 25 appearances for Ajax last year, he scored 11 goals and added five assists. Just 21 years old, he has the potential to become a truly special attacking midfield player. 

Meanwhile, sturdy centre-back Alderweireld would give Tottenham more depth in the middle of defense and safeguard against any approaches for versatile defender Jan Vertonghen—one of the Premier League's best defenders a year ago.

It would be a heck of a transfer swoop for Tottenham, which have seen a very solid summer on the market overshadowed by the Bale drama. It could potentially be the move that gets Tottenham back into the Champions League.