Tottenham vs Manchester City: Nacer Chadli picks up the beat of life at White Hart Lane

If the gifted Christian Eriksen is a John Lennon in search of his Paul McCartney, fellow midfielder Nacer Chadli has come to look like the only candidate

When Garth Crooks summed up Tottenham's splurging of the Gareth Bale transfer money in 2013 as having "sold Elvis Presley and signed the Beatles" he was implying an upgrade. Twenty-one months later, Spurs supporters are worried they may have ended up with something closer to the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band – some sporadically enjoyable entertainment without rising higher than No 5 in the charts.

Of the seven players brought in while Daniel Levy screwed an astonishing £85m out of Real Madrid that summer, Christian Eriksen remains the one unquestionable success. If the gifted little Dane is a Lennon in search of his McCartney, fellow midfielder Nacer Chadli has come to look like the only candidate; and at £7m from Twente Enschede, he does have the virtue of being the cheapest of the bunch, among those costing more than twice or even four times as much. Goals in successive games ahead of this afternoon’s fixture at home to Manchester City, giving him 12 for the season, have not done any harm either.

In this summer’s expected cull, as Mauricio Pochettino tries to assert his right to decide who comes and goes, Chadli has reason to believe he will still be on the wanted list. “He is an important player,” the manager said on Friday. “He has improved in the second season.”

Pochettino was not there for the first one, when Andre Villas-Boas then Tim Sherwood both came and went, just as Chadli was trying to settle in.

Chadli said: “When you change manager during the season it’s never easy because you don’t know what’s expected from you. I was playing with Villas-Boas, then Tim Sherwood came in and I didn’t play for maybe 10 games. After that I played so I was happy. Everybody expected a lot, that’s normal, because Tottenham sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid and the fans wanted good players back.

“It was a lot of pressure so it was difficult because when you sign so many players, you have to adapt. Sometimes it can be quickly or it can take time. You have to prove why they bought you.”

Confidence is an important part of the game for a player that the historically hard-to-please White Hart Lane crowd did not initially warm to. The self-belief was apparent in his two latest goals, when he kept the ball calmly before opening the scoring from 25 yards at Newcastle, then brushed off a defender to equalise at Southampton last week.

“First season was a bit difficult for me physically but now I feel at home here,” he added. “My first season I expected better because I always want more. The last months of the season I did better and was injury-free so I played more games in a row so that helped me. I feel more comfortable. I haven’t been injured this season so I’m very pleased, which can help me with my form.”

Rising from the mid-table low point of a home defeat by Stoke in November, Tottenham have been neck-and-neck for some time with Liverpool and Pochettino’s former club Southampton, outside the top four and probably destined for the mixed blessing of another Europa League campaign.

Once that outcome is confirmed, Chadli can concentrate on an exciting time for Belgium, level on points at the top of their Euro qualifying group with Wales, whom they visit next month. A chance to go up against Bale then?

“I don’t play right-back, so not quite!”

He sounded relieved.

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City is on Sky Sports 1 today, kick-off 4pm