Brentford have signed Christian Eriksen on a free transfer until end of 2021-22 season.
Eriksen has previous Premier League experience after scoring 69 goals in 305 appearances for Tottenham in a six-and-a-half season spell between August 2013 and January 2020, before moving to Inter Milan where he helped them to the Serie A title in 2020-21 season.
The 29 year-old midfielder however had his contract terminated by Inter Milan in mid December 2021, following a cardiac arrest during last summer’s Euros in Denmark’s opening defeat against Finland.
During his international career, Eriksen earned 109 caps and scored 36 goals for the Danish senior team but is well known to Brentford manager – Thomas Frank, who had coached Eriksen at Denmark Under-17s level.
Frank therefore is excited to work with Eriksen again as he explained: “I am looking forward to working with Christian again. It has been a while since I last coached him, and a lot has happened since then.
“Christian was 16 at the time and has become one of the best midfield players to appear in the Premier League. He has also won trophies all over Europe and become the star of the Danish national team.”
Frank though iterated that the decision to sign Eriksen was “an unbelievable opportunity” given his talent, experience and title success with six trophies across spells at Ajax and Inter Milan, as well as runner-up with Tottenham in 204-15 Carabao Cup plus 2018-19 Champions League.
Eriksen though has conducted individual training using the facilities of Danish club, Odense Boldklub so Frank has urged patience amongst fans, whilst the Bees work to ensure Eriksen is match fit before putting him in the matchday squad.
“He hasn’t trained with a team for seven months but has done a lot of work on his own. He is fit but we will need to get him match fit and I am looking forward to seeing him work with the players and staff to get back towards his highest level.” warned Frank about Eriksen’s game time expectations.
Frank also explained why the club moved to sign Eriksen from a technical footballing perspective, as he continued: “At his best, Christian has the ability to dictate games of football. He can find the right passes and is a goal threat. He also has very, very good set piece delivery, both from corners and direct free kicks.
“He is a player you can find with the ball, and he will come up with a solution to the problem in front of him. Christian will also bring experience of top level football to the Club. I expect him to have an impact in the dressing room and at the Training Ground.”
Brentford’s Director of Football, Phil Giles meanwhile added that discussions within the club began as soon as Inter Milan confirmed the termination of his contract.
Giles went on to explain that the process of this free transfer was “elongated” compared to normal transfers, due to Eriksen receiving an Implantable Cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in June 2021 following his cardiac arrest.
In respect of Eriksen’s ‘medical confidentiality’, Giles refused to divulge further details but iterated that Brentford supporters can be confident that the club “have undertaken significant due diligence to ensure that Christian is in the best possible shape to return to competitive football.”
Giles iterated that the focus now has to be “fully on football” and is confident that Eriksen will be able to “make a big impact at Brentford and on the Premier League between now and the end of the season.”
Eriksen meanwhile released a short message for fans on Brentford’s Twitter account.
Things you absolutely love to see ❤#BrentfordFC #EriksenJoins pic.twitter.com/FhvDlMLAxL
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) January 31, 2022
Tottenham meanwhile tweeted of their delight to see Eriksen back in the Premier League, albeit playing for one of their cross-London rivals.
It’s good to see you back in the Premier League, @ChrisEriksen8 💙 pic.twitter.com/HVZEYqa0ZZ
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 31, 2022
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