London (AP) – Christian Eriksen reacted with the same gesture that he sent around the world from his sick bed a few days after his dramatic collapse at the European Football Championship in the summer.
“I am delighted to announce that I have signed for Brentford FC,” said the 29-year-old in a social media video, in which he gave the camera a thumbs-up, smiling like he did then. “I can’t wait to get started!”
Return on Deadline Day
The 109-cap Denmark international returns to the Premier League, ending months of uncertainty for the playmaker. Appropriately, on Deadline Day, the last day of the transfer period, the table-14 confirmed. from West London that Eriksen, who was recently without a contract, has signed a contract until next summer after passing his medical check-up. Only the international release is still pending.
Eriksen had previously undergone extensive medical examinations at Brentford. He suddenly collapsed on June 12, 2021 during the European Championship game against Finland in front of his home crowd in Copenhagen – his heart stopped without warning. Dramatic minutes followed, which were extremely tiring for millions of football fans, in which rescue workers managed to revive Eriksen.
He was later fitted with a defibrillator that can send shocks in an emergency. The problem: In the Italian Serie A you can’t play with such a device. Eriksen’s contract with champions Inter Milan was therefore terminated. Most recently, he had prepared for his return to professional football in his native Denmark and with the reserves of his former club Ajax Amsterdam.
Eriksen is now celebrating his comeback in a league in which he switched and played for years before moving to Inter: he played more than 300 games for Tottenham Hotspur from 2013 to 2020. Brentford does not come close to Spurs or Inter in terms of level – but the station at the “Bees” should be just the right thing for the 29-year-old: Unlike before his collapse, he couldn’t just choose the next top club, at Brentford, however, he will have the opportunity to return to his old strength.
The pressure that would have prevailed elsewhere from day one should be lower for the newly promoted Premier League, whatever the expectations. “Here he can find his way back to his old level in peace,” said Danish football expert Mikkel Bischoff from Discovery.
Eriksen: “I want to play”
Many other Danes are also under contract with Brentford, including several that Eriksen knows from the national team. That should make it easier to get used to, as does the fact that he played under the Danish Brentford coach Thomas Frank as a youth in the Danish U17s.
What’s more, the Premier League remains the greatest arena in international football – and Eriksen needs it to get closer to an overarching goal. “My goal is to be at the World Cup in Qatar. I want to play,” he told Danish broadcaster DR a few weeks ago in his first interview since the collapse of the EM. It won’t be easy given the level of performance at the European Championship semi-finalist Denmark.
It is still too early for national coach Kasper Hjulmand to speculate about Eriksen’s return. “I’ve always said that Christian can play at his highest level for all teams in Europe and I still mean that,” he was quoted as saying by Danish radio on Monday. Eriksen was not injured, emphasized the former Mainz coach. “That’s why I really believe that he can find his level. And I might even think that Christian can get even better.”