Spurs star Christian Eriksen’s Real Madrid transfer could be OFF thanks to Federico Valverde’s fine form

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN’S dream Real Madrid move could be dashed by the form of Federico Valverde.

The Uruguay midfielder has impressed since returning from his loan at Deportivo La Coruna.

Valverde, 21, is seen as the natural successor to Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric in the future.

Eriksen, 27, could leave Spurs for £30million but the Spanish giants have a dilemma over Valverde.

Los Blancos failed to land the Danish ace, 27, over the summer and do not want to risk missing out on him again.

The Danish star had already made it clear he wanted a "new challenge", but ultimately stayed in North London.

Eriksen's current contract at Tottenham expires at the end of the season, with foreign clubs able to negotiate a pre-contract to sign him on a free from January 1.

Real Madrid were thought to be keen to pay £30m to bring him to the Bernabeu in January to avoid missing out on him in a bidding war, with Paris Saint-Germain also interested.

But according to reports in Spain, Eriksen would rather wait until his deal runs out in June so he can leave for free and pick up a huge signing bonus.

Madrid, meanwhile, may need to offload fringe players such as Isco to be able to afford Eriksen.

But rather than fork out a massive fee and be forced into making rash sales, the form of Valverde may have seen Los Blancos' interest cool.