Villas-Boas tips Eriksen to emulate Sneijder & Van der Vaart

The midfielder joined Tottenham this summer and the Portuguese is backing the Dane to follow in the footsteps of other former Ajax greats

 Andre Villas-Boas has tipped new Tottenham signing Christian Eriksen to emulate former Ajax greatsWesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart.

The 21-year-old was one of seven summer signings at White Hart Lane over the summer as Spurs preemptively spent the world-record transfer fee recouped by Gareth Bale's sale to Real Madrid.

And Villas-Boas says Eriksen, along with the likes of club-record signing Erik Lamela, can reach the top of the game, much like Sneijder - who was named the best player in the world by Goal in 2010.

"The expectancy is these players will become world stars," Villas-Boas told reporters.

"I think what happened with Christian is a bit like that happened with Sneijder and Van der Vaart when they were at Ajax.

"They reach a moment in their career where they become extremely important for their team and the club who goes and gets them does a great transfer move.

"We expect great things of Christian Eriksen and we want to develop him into becoming that sort of important player for us as well."

Eriksen is expected to make his debut for Tottenham against Norwich City on Saturday, with Villas-Boas stating his selection was a "big possibility".