MY ACCOUNT
Thomas Frank hopes Christian Eriksen will choose to stay at Brentford, with a decision likely to follow from the midfielder in two weeks amid links with Manchester United.
Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest when playing for Denmark against Finland at Euro 2020 last July and was brought back to life on the pitch.
The 30-year-old was not allowed to play for Serie A side Inter on medical grounds as Italy prevent players from competing after having a cardioverter-defibrillator fitted.
Brentford offered the midfielder a six-month contract in January and he subsequently delivered, scoring once and assisting four times in 11 Premier League games to help the Bees maintain their top-flight status.
Eriksen has also created 30 chances since his Brentford debut in February, with only Martin Odegaard (38) and Kevin De Bruyne (42) providing more opportunities in the Premier League over that period.
The future of the Denmark star, who is reportedly a target of Erik ten Hag’s United and former club Tottenham, remains uncertain, with Eriksen admitting he wants to play in the Champions League again.
Coach Frank believes Brentford could convince Eriksen to stay, though, after offering him his first chance back into football.
“I don’t know, honestly – I know that we still have a chance. I hope that he will make the decision in the next two weeks because he is on vacation now,” Frank told Spanish daily AS.
“The agreement is that you call me and tell me what you want to do. He hasn’t decided yet.”
Frank also recalled how a phone call with his son convinced him to attempt to sign Eriksen.
“The good story is that I coached Eriksen in the youth ranks in Denmark,” he added.
“I knew him, I had a good relationship with him and in October my son called me: ‘Dad, why don’t you contact Christian? He has to play football again’.
“I told him that he was probably right, but then I drifted away from the subject a bit because there was no sign that Eriksen wanted to play again.
“There were only small signs of his intention but then he already made it public that he wanted to play. Then my son called me again and said: ‘Dad, now you really have to talk to him’, and I told him that he was right.
“I called Christian in December, we talked a bit about life and I asked him if he was considering playing football again at Brentford and he replied: ‘The funny thing is that I thought of you too, we could do something’.
“Eriksen wanted a safe start with a trustworthy coach, in the Premier League, in London… it was a very good fit.
“I never doubted he would come back to a good level because I knew he was undergoing all kinds of tests and would be fine. He was convinced he was going to play well and now I hope we can keep him.”
