Andre Villas-Boas: Christian Eriksen can become a great player at Spurs

Andre Villas-Boas believes Christian Eriksen can become a “great player” at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Denmark international received lavish praise for a sparkling debut performance in a 2-0 victory over Norwich City at White Hart Lane on Saturday, teeing up Gylfi Sigurdsson for the opener.

Villas-Boas, who replaced Harry Redknapp in June 2012, admits Spurs were unsure of Eriksen’s talent despite the 21-year-old regularly impressing in the Eredivisie over the past few seasons.

And the Tottenham manager believes Spurs will have to be patient with Eriksen as the playmaker finds his feet in the English top-flight.

“It’s difficult because the disparity between the clubs in the Dutch league is so big that whenever you have players that perform at this level, it is hard to judge if it is based on individual quality or lack of quality from the opponent,” Villas-Boas said.

“I think this happened with Wesley Sneijder and Rafa van der Vaart. Most clubs knew they had the potential but it took time for them to grab them – this is probably what happened with Christian.

“We saw him live last season because we thought hard about the possibility of bringing him last season as well.

“He he has all the conditions to become a great player. The Premier League will offer him the kind of challenge that he didn’t have in the Dutch league.”