Christian Eriksen has signed a contract with Brentford, the club have announced, making a remarkable return to football just seven months after suffering a cardiac arrest while competing for Denmark at Euro 2020.
Eriksen has signed a contract until the end of the 2021-22 campaign, Brentford said.
Manager Thomas Frank said: “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.
“We have taken an unbelievable opportunity to bring a World Class player to Brentford. 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.”
The midfielder had been out of contract since he left Inter Milan due to not being permitted to compete in Serie A after being fitted with an cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device; a type of pacemaker which can prevent fatal cardiac arrests.
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Eriksen has not played since he suffered the on-field cardiac arrest during his country’s opening game of Euro 2020 in June against Finland, where he received life-saving treatment on the pitch.
The team’s medical staff, as well as Denmark captain Simon Kjaer, later received the UEFA President’s Award.
✍ Welcome to Brentford, @ChrisEriksen8 👊#BrentfordFC 🐝 #EriksenJoins pic.twitter.com/O8h5WbdUZ2
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) January 31, 2022
Eriksen began his senior career at Ajax in 2010, where he became an international. He moved to Tottenham in 2013, playing in the 2019 Champions League final, and then signed for Inter Milan last year.
Spurs boss Antonio Conte said earlier this month the door would “always be open” for Eriksen to return to the club after the player said his goal was to play at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.