Though many times the concept of a swap deal in football is simply fantasy talk, they do come to fruition sometimes. The most high-profile of recent times comes from La Liga, where FC Barcelona swapped Arthur Melo for Miralem Pjanic. However, swap deals are usually the realm of the NBA and other US-based sports. Even so, one trade deal that would make sense for all involved has since been ignored by Spurs. The concept of a three-way trade involving Tottenham, Paris-Saint Germain, and Internazionale has been mooted.
In the trade deal, Spurs would have given Dele Alli to PSG. The Englishman has made clear that he wants to move on from Spurs, he seems to have fallen out with the manager Jose Mourinho and not has played much lately. However, Spurs have rejected any idea of the trade deal happening, feeling like they do not receive value for money back in return.
Paris, though, would have been given their star turn that new coach Mauricio Pochettino would love to have brought in. In exchange, they would give Leandro Paredes to Internazionale. Coach Antonio Conte is known to be a huge fan of the Argentine and would like to add another physical and tactical presence into the midfield. However, the deal has failed to happen because PSG are unwilling to trade Paredes as they see him as a high-value asset.
The third player involved, and easily the most complex, is Christian Eriksen. The Dane has already played for Spurs, of course, leaving last January to sign for Inter. However, he has failed to make the grade in Italy, and it seems reasonable that Inter would like to not have to keep paying his massive wages as they are hardly using the player.
However, it looks like the deal is dead in the water before it can move further.
Why is the deal dead?
The main reason is quite simply – the three-way swap won’t happen because all three parties feel unhappy with the deal. For one, Spurs aren’t keen on taking a player that was happy to leave back into the fold. Mourinho had given the Dane precious little gametime, and his massive wages – backed by a tax-friendly set of regulations in Italy – means that it would be hard for Spurs to come close to even matching his wages. Eriksen, too, is noted to be not very keen on returning to Spurs having already left to pursue new opportunities.
Also, the Dane has recently started to see some more gametime and has delivered a key moment in the last few days; a 97th minute winner free-kick against eternal rivals AC Milan. This has left him back in with a chance of seeing gametime in Milan, and might mean that he sticks around as opposed to moves on once again.
It is hard to say for sure what happens next, but it looks like if any of these three players will move on it will be done in a deal that is separate from an NBA-style three-way trade deal.
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