‘I didn’t expect people to send flowers because I’d died for five minutes’ – Eriksen

Christian Eriksen has expressed his gratitude for the support he has received during his recovery from his cardiac arrest, where he admitted that he “died for five minutes”.

Eriksen collapsed during Denmark’s game against Finland at Euro 2020 last June and was subsequently fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)

The 29-year-old is not permitted to play in Italian football due to regulations surrounding his ICD device, which lead to Eriksen and Inter mutually agreeing to terminate his contract.

He joined the Nerazzurri in January 2020 following seven years in the Premier League with Tottenham.

In a recent interview with Danish broadcaster DR, Eriksen made clear his gratefulness to those who have written to him or approached him with well wishes.

“It was weird, because I didn’t expect people to send flowers because I’d died for five minutes,” he said. “It was quite extraordinary but very nice of everyone.

“People still write to me. I’ve thanked people I’ve met in person, I’ve thanked the doctors, my team-mates and their families in person.

“But all the fans who’ve sent thousands of letters and emails and flowers, or who’ve come up to me in the street in Italy and Denmark, I thank them all for the support I got from all over the world that helped me through this.”

Meanwhile, Eriksen’s agent, Martin Schoots, has said that playing in England would feel like a homecoming for his client.

“Playing in England again would absolutely feel like coming home for Chris and his family,” Schoots told the BBC.

“Christian has been treated exceptionally well by the British public, not only because of his top football skills, but also because of his human values, his modesty and altruism.”