Christian Eriksen is the key for north London derby

 The Dane has won 15 for points for Tottenham with his goals, many late in the game, and he will be the main dangerman alongside Harry Kane against Arsenal on Saturday

By Greg Stobart

When

Christian Eriksen was shining as the star player in his

Ajax youth team, Dennis Bergkamp picked up the phone and urged

Arsene Wenger to sign the Dane for

Arsenal. The plea from the Gunners legend fell on deaf ears and now Wenger can add Eriksen to the growing list of players he should have, could have and almost signed.

The Arsenal manager has admitted in the past that he missed opportunities to snap up Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Yaya Toure and even Lionel Messi, so Eriksen is in good company as he prepares to show Wenger what he turned down in the north London derby on Saturday. The 22-year-old will have a key role to play if Mauricio Pochettino's side are to leapfrog Arsenal in the Premier League table with a victory at White Hart Lane.

Eriksen's contribution this season has been remarkable. The playmaker has won 15 points for Tottenham with his goals, more than any other player at any team in the division, with team-mate Harry Kane second on the list, having won Spurs 13 points.

The former Ajax man's nine league strikes include winners against Southampton, Hull, Swansea, Leicester and Sunderland and he was the hero last week with both of Tottenham's goals against Sheffield United to book their place in the League Cup final, where they face Chelsea.

Eriksen signed for Tottenham for just 11 million three days before Arsenal broke their transfer record to bring Mesut Ozil to the club from Real Madrid for 42.5m. There is no doubt over which club got the better deal.

While Ozil has stuttered and failed to live up to his billing - admittedly partly due to injuries - Eriksen has shown why Bergkamp picked him out as a star of the future when he was just a teenager.