Christian
EriksenChristian Eriksen Shirt number 14

A Denmark international, the former Ajax, Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan and Brentford joined United in July 2022 with a reputation as a talented midfielder who can carve defences open at will. 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. The midfielder was part of Denmark's 2010 World Cup squad, becoming the youngest player at the tournament. The following year, Eriksen 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 he departed for Tottenham Hotspur in August 2013. 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. Making the switch to Italy in January 2020, Eriksen joined Inter Milan where he finished runner up of the 2019/20 Europa League and played a key role as Inter won the Serie A for first time in 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 resumed his career at Brentford, signing for the club on January transfer deadline-day 2022. His extraordinary comeback to professional football came against Newcastle in February. Eriksen finished the season with 11 appearances, one goal and four assists. In March 2022, he also achieved his aim of once again playing international football - lining up against the Netherlands and scoring two minutes into his return. Despite an ankle injury keeping him out between January and April, ensuring he missed the Carabao Cup triumph at Wembley, Eriksen had a positive first campaign at United under Erik ten Hag. The Dane made 44 appearances across all competitions, scoring twice and registering 10 assists. He also represented Denmark at a third World Cup, although the Scandinavians exited at the group stages.