Christian Eriksen has left Tottenham Hotspur.A move to Inter Milan has finally been confirmed, with the Italian club announcing that he has signed a contract until 2024.He leaves behind a club that he has been trying to depart since the summer.Then, per sources, he wanted a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona but that did not quite come to fruition; in fact, there wasn’t a single bid tabled by either Spanish club.Now, in January, he has been forced to settle for a move to Italy with a club that cannot be placed in the same pantheon as the Spanish giants.

The big fat Tottenham quiz of 2019 - how much do you remember about the last year at Spurs?

Spurs, in some ways, will be delighted. Chairman Daniel Levy has received a fee for a player whose contract was set to expire in the summer, reported by Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas to be £17m.

That money, subsequently, is set to be reinvested in a deal for PSV Eindhoven winger Steven Bergwijn, with a £21m bid tabled over the weekend; the transfer is close to being completed, per sources.

But one has to ask the question as to whether Eriksen deserves the apathy that is surrounding his departure.

Think back to his substitution against Liverpool in the Premier League; his own supporters roundly booed him. Of course, some fans have taken to Twitter to talk him up in the wake of his departure and perhaps this is a case of not knowing what you have until it’s gone.

But this really doesn’t feel like the Gareth Bale departure or the Luka Modric departure or even, really, the Dimitar Berbatov departure. All became fulcrums of the Spurs teams that they played in, all were vitally important to the cause and, with time, the criticism of all of their departures has softened. Berbatov even played in a legends game that was held at the club’s new stadium and was given a rousing ovation when he came on, despite forcing a move to Manchester United. Bale, surely, would be welcomed back with open arms; he contemplated, per reports, going on strike to get his move to Real Madrid.

Eriksen, though, hasn’t really caught the imagination as that trio did and perhaps that is because he is leaving at the wrong time.

He wanted to move on in the summer and perhaps his ideal scenario was to hoist the Champions League trophy aloft, a winner’s medal around his neck, a saleable commodity that would have walked into most teams in Europe. But, instead, he was part of a poor team in that final, a team that really failed to turn up and rolled over as Liverpool, without playing very well, won the biggest prize in club football.

He had played reasonably well throughout that season, scoring 10 goals in all competitions and also registering a total of 17 assists. He just didn’t reach his peak.

In 16/17 alone, for example, he had 15 league assists; in 17/18, he scored 10 goals in the league.

There were times, perhaps, to cash in, to follow the Liverpool example with Philippe Coutinho and let a brilliant, diminutive playmaker go so reinvestment could be made and a stronger unit forged.

That didn’t happen, either. So now Eriksen departs Spurs as a player who fell off, who struggled to maintain that exceptional ability that was so clear to so many for so long.

It is a sad, downbeat ending for a player who cost just £11.5m and who served the club with distinction for over seven years.

Perhaps one could argue that he brought it on himself with his sulky performances and his air of aloofness. But you could say the same for Bale or Berbatov or Modric.

Perhaps, in time, this apathy will turn into sincerity and affection for Eriksen, who did have his flaws – how someone of his quality routinely failed to beat the first man at a corner will forever be a mystery – but who was also a maestro at his best.

Inter Milan have a super player on their hands, just like Spurs did a couple of years ago.

Meanwhile, sources have given Football FanCast the lowdown on Tottenham's striker hunt!