Eriksen thrilled to join Spurs revolution

Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen has expressed his delight after joining Tottenham Hotspur from Ajax on a day of frantic activity at White Hart Lane. The 21-year-old's arrival was confirmed late on Friday, after Spurs had earlier completed moves for Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches and Argentine attacker Erik Lamela. Eriksen signed for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £11.5 million ($17.8 million, 13.5 million euros), taking Spurs' spending during the close season to over £100 million. Although last season's star player Gareth Bale is on the brink of a move to Real Madrid, Eriksen said he was thrilled to join the squad that manager Andre Villas-Boas is assembling. "Everyone has followed the development of Spurs and it's something I want to be part of," he said. Eriksen has made 37 appearances for Denmark, scoring four goals, and won three successive Eredivisie titles with Ajax in his five-year spell in Amsterdam. Chiriches signed from Steaua Bucharest for £8.5 million earlier on Friday before Lamela's arrival from Roma for a fee of around £25.8 million was announced. Following the earlier signings of Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado and Etienne Capoue, Spurs now have seven new players on their books, and centre-back Jan Vertonghen believes they will be a force to be reckoned with this season. "I think it sends a message to everybody, to all the top four, that we want to be up there and they have to look at us as well and where we are going to be," said the Belgian, who signed from Ajax last year. "Other teams are looking at us. There is a lot of interest in us. "There's a lot of competition and the quality of the players is very high here. They have just so much power. I think we have a strong team anyway, whatever happens (with Bale). "We have bought some very good players and it is always good to have different players who can score." Spurs face fierce rivals Arsenal on Sunday in the season's first north London derby and with physically imposing players like Chadli, Paulinho and Capoue now in the team, Vertonghen believes Arsene Wenger's side could be set for a bruising encounter. "If you see guys like Chadli, Paulinho and Capoue, they are all tall guys who have pace but physical power as well," he said. "Maybe we lacked that last year. They make us stronger in both ways, in a skilful way too." Source:AFP