Former Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan footballer Christian Eriksen has been presented at the Brentford Community Stadium after signing for the club in the January transfer window.
The Danish midfielder was presented by the club on Friday, just seven months after he suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s Euro 2020 group game against Finland.
Brentford’s manager Thomas Frank said Eriksen is “bubbling” and training well but said he would not be drawn into setting a date for his debut.
He is yet to take the field since June 2021.
Eriksen, 29, was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and wasn’t able to continue playing in the Seria A because of the implant.
After leaving Inter Milan, he trained with Odense Boldklub in Odense and his former club Ajax, before returning to the Premier League after signing for Brentford on 31 January.
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“I think he’s fine, he’s training well and he looks like the quality player we know he is,” the Bees boss said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Crystal Palace.
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“It’s a joy watching him play football – so natural for him – so that’s fantastic to see, but he will not be available for the team tomorrow. That would always be too early after just one week.
“We will have a friendly game on Monday where he will play minutes and that’s the right way to do it.”
High hopes
Brentford fans hope Eriksen’s return will improve their club’s form, having lost their last six matches in all competitions.
Eriksen will be with Brentford for the remainder of the season after reuniting with Frank, who was his coach at Denmark youth level, and the Bees manager believes he is in good spirits.
“I must say he’s bubbling. We are having him seven months after the incident so he missed badly being part of the group, being part of a club and hopefully we can add new chapters to the Brentford story,” Frank said.
Eriksen says he has no anxiety about playing his first match for Brentford.
“Of course, it is getting closer and closer by, I do feel in my head and body that the excitement is coming, the adrenaline is coming more and more towards game time,” Eriksen said at his unveiling press conference on Friday.
“If there was any anxiety, I wouldn’t go back. If I wasn’t fully committed and felt like I am trusting of the doctors, trusting of my heart, trusting of my ICD in me, then I wouldn’t go back. No, I feel 100 per cent secure to go back.”