EPL

Eriksen spoke to 'every manager' at Man Utd before signing for Ten Hag

By Sports Desk August 01, 2022

Christian Eriksen revealed he snubbed repeated advances from Manchester United before signing up last month.

The Denmark international joined Erik ten Hag's side on a free transfer in July following a short-term stint with Brentford, having left Inter due to medical issues that meant he was no longer able to play in Italy.

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator he had fitted after suffering cardiac arrest at the European Championship last year counted Eriksen out of a Serie A return to action.

Eriksen excelled with Thomas Frank's Brentford side, scoring once and contributing four assists in 11 Premier League matches, leading to United's interest.

He indicated he had previously spoken to Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer about a potential move, having been admired since first moving to the Premier League in 2013 with Tottenham.

"I've spoken to every manager who's been here at Man United to see what the situation was," Eriksen told ESPN.

"But I was at Spurs at the time and I really couldn't see myself playing in another English team at that time. I went abroad and went to Inter.

"It's been on the books, well, not on the books but it's been spoken about. For me, it wasn't the [right] timing, it wasn't there and I was at a place at Spurs for a long time and I wanted to try something abroad, and I went to Inter and ended up having a lovely time.

"But then obviously something happened in the summer and that changed a bit the career path I had in mind, and then obviously to come back to Brentford first of all and then to be here is something I didn't think could happen a year ago."

Eriksen's impressive form at Brentford led to United battling the London side for his services, but the midfielder denied there was a possibility of a return to Tottenham.

"It was only talk. They never really came with anything, so it wasn't really a thing for me to go back to Tottenham at the time and Man United were very early on, very positive and I had good conversations," he said.

"It was very positive from the first few phone calls already and the club felt like they wanted me, so it was on for a long time."

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