With no Harry Kane and no Son Heung-min on the pitch, there will be no player that Ajax will fear more when they face Spurs than Christian Eriksen. Ironically, it was his time in Amsterdam that made him the footballer he is today.
The 27-year-old is on the shopping lists of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United for the summer. With good reason too — there are few central midfielders in the world on his level.
But back in 2008, Ajax spent €1m on the 16-year-old Eriksen, beating Chelsea and Barcelona to the punch. That fee that was split between his first clubs, OB and Middlefart, who built a new pitch with their share.
Without the move and his five years at Ajax, Eriksen might not have built the same career.
When Eriksen arrived at Ajax's De Toekomst training ground, there were fundamental problems with his game.
He needed crucial intervention from Ajax youth coach Ruben Jongkind. Jongkind's background was in track and field and he spotted an issue — Eriksen did not run correctly.
Jongkind planned to spend half a year fixing how the Dane moved. Eriksen, a quick learner, managed it in nearly half the time.
'I did a project with him, an individual project,' Jongkind told Sportsmail. 'We worked on his running game for six months.
'We improved his running game dramatically. He was one of the quickest learners I have ever worked with. He is very determined.
'Normally at age 16, 17, you cannot learn as quickly anymore for running technique. He did it in four months time.
'The way he moves now, subconsciously, is not how he moved when he came to Ajax. It was terrible.
'It contributed to him being the box-to-box player that he is now.'
It is hard to imagine Mauricio Pochettino — an advocate of a hard running style — tolerating someone unable to do it right. Now Eriksen regularly tops the charts for distance covered in Pochettino's side, combining graft with his glittering technique.
After all, Eriksen is not just a workhorse — he has nine goals this season, including crucial interventions against Inter Milan and, more recently, Brighton.
That was something else Jongkind and Wim Jonk, another coach in the youth system, worked on with Eriksen.
'We did a lot of finishing, me and Wim Jonk, with Eriksen,' Jongkind adds. 'A lot of finishing. Twice per week, half an hour, only finishing different situations.
'He had a good kick but it improved.'
Jongkind soon saw Eriksen pushed up to the first-team under Martin Jol. That was when it became clear just how much talent he had.
It means his progression is no surprise to the coach: 'I still remember one of his first training sessions with the first team and you immediately saw that he was one of the best and he was only 17.
'Then you know, okay, if he can do this here, then the potential is there.
'We never looked too much into what might happen, you don't know. You can only work day to day and provide the best and who will reach what level.
'Players like him, you know when you work with them in your sessions, if they are the best, if you are at Ajax, then you know they have the potential to reach world level.'
First-team football brought 113 appearances, 25 goals and three straight Eredivisie titles. He would move on to Spurs in 2013. But a decade on from his arrival in Amsterdam, Eriksen has grown into the player Ajax thought he might be.
A Champions League trophy could be on the cards this season, along with those potentially massive moves.
And on a personal level, it is now up to Eriksen to show against his old side that he is in the running for a place among the world's best.
