Has Christian Eriksen played since Euro 2020?

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Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark, but has since signed for Brentford

Christian Eriksen, Denmark
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Christian Eriksen is back in the Premier League with Brentford, signing a contract until the end of the season on transfer deadline day. 

The 29-year-old, who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020 last summer, left Inter Milan by mutual consent because rules in Italy prevented him from playing with a implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device fitted.

Eriksen's Brentford debut will be the first game of competitive football he will have played since facing Finland in June 2021 at the Euros. However, he has been training with his former youth side Odense Boldklub in Denmark, and Ajax, the club he played for between 2010 and 2013. 

The Danish midfielder built up his fitness with Odense from early December, but subsequently rejected offers to return to football from Odense and FC Copenhagen, in the hope he could play in a more prestigious league.  

While negotiating terms with Brentford, which included medical examinations and contract terms, Eriksen trained with Ajax's young players a week before signing with the Premier League club, as he ramped up his preparations. 

Despite having not played a professional game of football since his cardiac arrest, Eriksen still maintains hope that he can play his way back into Denmark's national squad and appear at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He is on an initial six-month contract at Brentford, and if he manages to prove his ability again in the Premier League there seems no reason why he can't achieve his ambition. 

Eriksen's return to the Premier League also reunites him with compatriot and Brentford manager Thomas Frank. Frank managed Eriksen in Denmark's under-17 side, but only briefly as the midfielder quickly progressed through the international team's ranks. 

His last spell in the Premier League, seven years with Tottenham Hotspur, yielded 51 Premier League goals in 226 games. Eriksen left in January 2020 to join Inter Milan.

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Ryan Dabbs
Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.