Christian Eriksen can become a modern Tottenham great like Paul Gascoigne and Glenn Hoddle, insists team-mate Jan Vertonghen.

Eriksen produced another outstanding display to help Spurs beat Newcastle 4-0 and reach the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup, where they will face League One club Sheffield United over two legs to reach the Wembley final.

After a slow start to the campaign, Eriksen is reaching top form and Vertonghen, who played with the Dane at Ajax and helped persuade him to move to Spurs, believes there is no limit to what Eriksen can achieve.

“He can reach their level, 100 per cent,” said Vertonghen. “Christian can become one of the better players Spurs have ever had.

“I know Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart better as they’re playing in my era, but I know the reputation of Hoddle and Gascoigne. As a playmaker, he can become one of the best in the Premier League.

“I’m a big fan of Christian and I’m happy I convinced him to come here. We had good contact when he was still at Ajax and I was here. Spurs asked me what I thought of him and I was very positive. I did my job to convince him.

Player Ratings: Tottenham v Newcastle United 12 show all Player Ratings: Tottenham v Newcastle United 1/12 Michel Vorm: 7 Apart from keeping out a couple of long-range strikes from Mousa Sissoko, he had little to do in the first half. He denied Jack Colback and sub Adam Armstrong in the second. Getty 2/12 Vlad Chiriches: 7 He looks a better full-back than he does a centre-back, even though he joined Spurs to play in the middle. Generally dealt well with both Yoann Gouffran and Remy Cabella. Getty 3/12 Federico Fazio: 6 Better in the air – as he should be – than in recent games but still dodgy in possession. Caught out of position twice. Still adapting to the English game. GETTY 4/12 Jan Vertonghen: 7 Captain for the night, he was largely authoritative at the back but needs to cut out the silly mistakes, such as the one that should have led to a 55th-minute goal for the visitors. Getty 5/12 Danny Rose: 6 Back in the side after injury, Rose was kept busy by Cabella in the first half, and only when the game was won did he feel the freedom to go forward regularly. Getty 6/12 Nabil Bentaleb: 7 He crowned a decent performance with his first senior goal for Spurs. Not always precise in possession but is athletic, technically sound and has bags of personality. Getty 7/12 Benjamin Stambouli: 7 He plays only in the cups but this was a quietly effective display from the Frenchman. Makes up for his lack of pace with excellent positional sense. Getty 8/12 Nacer Chadli: 7 He can look ordinary for long spells only to make a decisive contribution. That was the story here, as the Belgian made it 2-0 to Spurs 34 seconds after the interval. Getty 9/12 Christian Eriksen: 8 The Dane is quickly becoming the attacking leader this team have craved since Gareth Bale’s departure. Some of his passing and one-touch play were world-class. Getty 10/12 Andros Townsend: 6 Granted a rare start, the England winger often seemed to be trying too hard. It is hard to escape the feeling he will be moving elsewhere in January. GETTY 11/12 Harry Kane: 7 Without showing quite the same energy and dynamism as he did at Swansea, Kane still kept the Newcastle centre-backs honest and his 13th goal of the season was a ruthless finish. Getty 12/12 Roberto Soldado: 6 Scored Spurs’ fourth a minute after coming on. Getty 1/12 Michel Vorm: 7 Apart from keeping out a couple of long-range strikes from Mousa Sissoko, he had little to do in the first half. He denied Jack Colback and sub Adam Armstrong in the second. Getty 2/12 Vlad Chiriches: 7 He looks a better full-back than he does a centre-back, even though he joined Spurs to play in the middle. Generally dealt well with both Yoann Gouffran and Remy Cabella. Getty 3/12 Federico Fazio: 6 Better in the air – as he should be – than in recent games but still dodgy in possession. Caught out of position twice. Still adapting to the English game. GETTY 4/12 Jan Vertonghen: 7 Captain for the night, he was largely authoritative at the back but needs to cut out the silly mistakes, such as the one that should have led to a 55th-minute goal for the visitors. Getty 5/12 Danny Rose: 6 Back in the side after injury, Rose was kept busy by Cabella in the first half, and only when the game was won did he feel the freedom to go forward regularly. Getty 6/12 Nabil Bentaleb: 7 He crowned a decent performance with his first senior goal for Spurs. Not always precise in possession but is athletic, technically sound and has bags of personality. Getty 7/12 Benjamin Stambouli: 7 He plays only in the cups but this was a quietly effective display from the Frenchman. Makes up for his lack of pace with excellent positional sense. Getty 8/12 Nacer Chadli: 7 He can look ordinary for long spells only to make a decisive contribution. That was the story here, as the Belgian made it 2-0 to Spurs 34 seconds after the interval. Getty 9/12 Christian Eriksen: 8 The Dane is quickly becoming the attacking leader this team have craved since Gareth Bale’s departure. Some of his passing and one-touch play were world-class. Getty 10/12 Andros Townsend: 6 Granted a rare start, the England winger often seemed to be trying too hard. It is hard to escape the feeling he will be moving elsewhere in January. GETTY 11/12 Harry Kane: 7 Without showing quite the same energy and dynamism as he did at Swansea, Kane still kept the Newcastle centre-backs honest and his 13th goal of the season was a ruthless finish. Getty 12/12 Roberto Soldado: 6 Scored Spurs’ fourth a minute after coming on. Getty

“As a playmaker, he can be one of the best in the Premier League. I’ve played with him since he was 16 or 17 and he has improved every season. Maybe at the end of his Ajax days, people were a bit critical of him, because they said the statistics weren’t as good as they should have been.

“But he is showing now that he can score and create goals, and he’s also a very hard worker. He is becoming more dominant and we need him on the ball as much as possible.

“When he plays on the left he comes inside, and when he’s a No10 he’s even more of an influence, so there is always something happening when he has the ball. It’s good for the team.”

Nabil Bentaleb’s first senior goal for Spurs gave the home side a half-time lead after an even opening period, before Nacer Chadli scored 34 seconds after the re-start to give Mauricio Pochettino’s team the cushion they needed.

MATCH REPORT: TOTTENHAM 4 NEWCASTLE 0

When Newcastle won 2-1 at White Hart Lane earlier in the season, their equaliser came just seven seconds into the second half. This time, it was the visitors who were caught cold and they never recovered, as Harry Kane and substitute Roberto Soldado made it an emphatic win.

Spurs will be strong favourites to reach the final, where they would meet Chelsea or Liverpool, but Bentaleb was quick to warn them against complacency.

He said: “People can think whatever they like but we don’t underestimate any team. We’ve seen Sheffield United knock out a strong team in Southampton, so we have to make sure we get a good result against them.

“We have to take it forward into the next game. We’ve bounced back after drawing 0-0 at home to Crystal Palace and now we have to keep going in that direction against Burnley on Saturday.”