Christian Eriksen to Tottenham: Spurs keen to reunite playmaker with Conte after impressive Brentford form

Tottenham are interested in a reunion with Brentford’s Christian Eriksen next season but no decision on his future will be taken until the summer.

Eriksen’s successful return has been the most uplifting story of the Premier League campaign, with the 30-year-old marking his comeback with a series of impressive, goalscoring displays to effectively rubber stamp Brentford’s survival.

A remarkable 4-1 win at Chelsea lifted the Bees 11 points clear of the drop zone and allowed them to start planning for another year in the Premier League, with further recruitment meetings set for later this month. Eriksen will certainly feature prominently in them and Brentford want him to ink a long-term deal, even if both parties are “relaxed” about the future.

Brentford know his excellent form will inevitably attract attention from elsewhere. A weekend link with Manchester United caught the eye and Newcastle were understood to be assessing a move in January.

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But it is Spurs, where Antonio Conte linked up with him at Inter, who are paying the closest attention to his situation.

“He’s only started three games since he joined the club so it has taken a bit of time to get him up to speed,” a senior source at the Bees told i.

“We want him to stay but it will be the end of the season before he makes a decision.”

Indeed Brentford believe there is a realistic chance of Eriksen staying with them beyond the initial six month deal agreed in January but much will depend on whether lucrative offers come from elsewhere. He could, in theory, play in Spain although he’s understood to want to remain in the Premier League.

The player is also understood to be enjoying his time playing under Thomas Frank, who said on Saturday that the player was “just enjoying the moment” – before acknowledging the midfielder’s future would dominate his press conferences between now and the close season.

Eriksen’s Tottenham career in numbers

• Appearances: 305
• Goals: 69
• Assists (Premier League only): 62
• Honours: None (League Cup runner-up 2014-15, Champions League runner-up 2018-19)
• Individual honours: Tottenham Player of the Year (2013-14, 2016-17), PFA Team of the Year (2017-18)

i understands that, so far, there have been no talks on extending Eriksen’s deal but Brentford will put a long-term offer to the Denmark international, who has been described as a “perfect” signing by the Bees.

Eriksen’s quality has stood out but also his mental resilience to return to playing at the highest level after his cardiac arrest last year. Physically it has taken him a while to get up to speed but a support programme that had to be devised to ensure Eriksen could join the Bees has helped on the front.

And the progressive club he has joined have benefited from worldwide positive publicity that will help them attract players as they look to progress and become an established Premier League club.

Whether he stays or not, Brentford will collect the plaudits for being the club to push hardest for a deal that was described at the time as one of the “most complicated in Premier League history”.

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The club had to employ outside legal and medical counsel to lay the groundwork for the Eriksen deal. A defibrillator must be kept at close quarters and a staff member qualified in cardiac issues has to be close by whenever Eriksen plays or trains. It was not a straightforward process and perhaps explains why he is playing at Brentford over other clubs who looked at the uncertainty around the deal and decided to wait and see.

The Bees might hope the effort they went to will be repaid when the player comes to make a decision in the close season – although there’s a realism about their approach.

And in the short-term support has come from the unlikeliest of places.

“Whenever he goes to take a corner, he’s getting a standing ovation at the moment – even at Chelsea, where there’s not a lot of love lost with his former club Spurs,” one insider noted.

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