Everything you need to know about Eriksen's career so far

Saturday 16 July 2022 14:55

New Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen arrives at Old Trafford with a wealth of experience and a number of titles - here is a look at his career to date...

A Denmark international, the former Ajax, Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan and Brentford player has so far made a total of 654 senior appearances for club and country - netting 148 goals and garnering an equally as impressive 188 assists.

The 30-year-old, who was born in Middelfart, Denmark, left the Bees in the summer as a free agent having joined the London club on a six-month deal - completing an incredible return to professional football after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 just over seven months earlier.

Eriksen signs for United

 Article

We are delighted to announce that Denmark international Christian has signed a three-year contract as a Red.

Having come through the youth set-ups of Middelfart G&BK and Odense Boldklub before joining Ajax in 2008, Eriksen made his first senior appearance in football in 2010 after he was promoted to the Dutch outfit's first-team.

His maiden goal in professional football came in that year's Dutch Cup, getting on the scoresheet in a 6-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles. Ajax went on to win the competition, bringing Eriksen his first taste of silverware, with his contribution to the title also including playing in the second leg of the final - which ended in a 6-1 aggregate victory over Feyenoord.

In March 2010, he made his senior international debut against Austria, having already played for Denmark at several age groups, and in being selected for the World Cup in South Africa, he was the youngest player at the tournament.

The following year he helped Ajax to a first Dutch league title in seven years and individually picked up both the Ajax Talent of the Year and Johan Cruyff Trophy. It would be the first of three successive Eredivisie titles for Eriksen before departing for Tottenham Hotspur in August 2013.

Showing his creative flair from the off, Eriksen picked up an assist on his Premier League debut for Spurs in a 2-0 victory over Norwich City and added his first goal for the North London side less than a week later in the Europa League against Norway’s Tromso IL.

He was named as Tottenham's Player of the Season in his debut year for the club, in a campaign which also saw him bag a winner at Old Trafford against United in a 2-1 win for Spurs on New Year's Day 2014.

During his time with Tottenham, the club were runners up in the League Cup in 2014/15, the Premier League in 2016/17 and Champions League in 2018/19. In 2017 he broke the record for goals scored by a Danish player in the Premier League - a feat he still holds with 52 goals to date.

Named in PFA Team of the Year for the first time in 2017/18, the following season would see Eriksen become only second player after David Beckham to record 10 or more assists in four consecutive Premier League seasons.

Eriksen and United: The story so far

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Our new midfielder has crossed paths with only one other club more in his career.

Making the switch to Italy in January 2020 Eriksen joined Inter Milan where, as well as reaching another European final as runner up of the 2019/20 Europa League, he would be part of the first Inter side to win Serie A for 11 seasons in 2020/21.

However, following his cardiac arrest at that summer's Euros against Finland, his contract was terminated in December 2021 because he wasn't permitted to play in Italy with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.

Having recovered, the Dane was looking for a club to resume his career, with the aim of once again playing for his country. Brentford signed him on January transfer deadline-day 2022 and he completed his extraordinary comeback to professional football against Newcastle in February.

He finished the season with 11 appearances, a goal as the Bees beat London rivals Chelsea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge and four assists.

'Eriksen will force the squad to improve'

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That's what club legend Wes Brown told our UTD Podcast when reacting to Friday's big transfer announcement.

In March he also achieved his dream of once again playing international football - lining up against the Netherlands and scoring two minutes into his return.

Eriksen is currently fourth on the all-time list of Denmark’s senior appearance makers and joint-fifth on men’s goal chart. He will no doubt be hoping to add to that at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.

On Friday, it was announced that Eriksen had signed for United on a three-year contract. While at Old Trafford, there is hopefully more to add to the illustrious tapestry that is the Dane's career so far.

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