Manchester United were first linked with Christian Eriksen a decade ago, when he faced his team Ajax in the Europe league. Sir Alex Ferguson sung the praises of the young midfielder and Eriksen spoke of his pride that a manager of Fergie’s stature would single him out for acknowledgement.
The following year, Eriksen ended up signing for Tottenham Hotspur and as the years of his career have gone by, playing for Inter Milan and then Brentford, the player thought his chance to sign for United had gone.
In an interview with MUTV, Eriksen has spoken about what it feels like to be a United player and why he chose to come.
It’s weird, I never thought it would actually happen, so to be here, like you say being a Manchester United player, it’s very special.
I think from my career path before the incident in the Euros, the planning wasn’t to go back to the UK at all. I was thinking my time to go to Manchester United was before! Obviously, then I was at Spurs, and then went to Italy, but now to sit here is definitely something that I didn’t expect, but I’m also very happy that I’m here. It feels good, it feels good to be here.
Eriksen had a number of offers on the table but opted to come to Old Trafford to play for Erik ten Hag. The midfielder explains why.
First of all, the football. I mean, I’m a guy who wants to play football and I think with the idea of the manager coming in and the ideas he had and also with my conversations with him, I mean I could see myself playing football in Manchester. And, at the same time, it’s a very, very big club – if not the biggest. If you pronounce it anywhere they know where it’s from, they know where the locals come from. It has a big history and it’s a nice feeling to be part of something that is that big in history.
I want to come here to play football, I don’t come here just for the logo itself, I want to come here and play. Obviously to speak with the manager and hear his ideas and have conversations with him on the football terms was great and ideal for me to get the decision and the possibility of coming to Manchester United.
Eriksen also reflected on what his ambitions were for the season ahead, as well as what the club should be aspiring to achieve.
I’m pretty sure the ambitions are, of course, to be top again. It’s the dream of the club and the history is now being the best, so I think the only aim is to go as high as possible and see where it takes us. But I think the aim is definitely to win something.
I think not only with my arrival, but the whole thing has a good vibe to it. I mean, the whole club seems like it’s in a good place. So hopefully it’s something we can push on. I’ve seen the pre-season games, and it looks good. The team looks good. I think it’s definitely something that we can push for and I hope I can help the fans to be able to come to the games and enjoy the football that we’re going to play.
