Christian Eriksen is finally a Manchester United player, and something about it just feels so right.
Eriksen, after spending 3 seasons at Ajax, joined Tottenham in 2013 for a fee of £11.5 million and spent seven seasons at the club, becoming one of the best attacking midfielders in the league – especially under Mauricio Pochettino.
He has faced Manchester United a total of 16 times and famously scored against Manchester United just 11 seconds after kick off at Wembley in 2018.
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His attacking style of play and technical brilliance when it comes to passing has been praised endlessly over the years, and Eriksen himself thinks his qualities will fit right into Erik ten Hag’s tactical setup.
"Yeah, I think my style of play hopefully fits in with his ideas and hopefully it’s something that will connect in a good and positive way. So of course, his style of football, I think it suits me."
Manchester United had a beyond torrid first season last campaign. Despite great moments such as a 5-1 thrashing of Leeds and a brilliant 3-2 victory over Tottenham at Old Trafford, the club finished 6th in the league and bombed out of every cup competition reletively early.
"To be honest, I didn’t follow it that much last campaign,” Eriksen admitted when asked on how he felt United’s season was during 2021/22. “I was focused on the first part of the season, which was about my rehab and, afterwards was my Brentford season, so my focus was there.
“Of course, we played against United at Old Trafford and it was a good game, but my focus was of course at my previous club. But no, I think with United in general, everyone follows it on the outside. A lot of people has an opinion.
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“I think it’s healthy and a good way to be part of it and see what it’s like and feel it: what it’s like to play for Manchester United. It’s a good thing.”
Eriksen is very ambitious about the coming season though, and speaks about the aims of the club in glowing terms.
"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."
Eriksen is definitely a household name, even more so with putting pen to paper on a three-year contract with Manchester United, however has never played with anyone currently at the club before.
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“I’ve played against everyone, I don’t think there’s one player I don’t know by name,” Eriksen detailed. “So of course I’ve played against them all.
“I don’t have any players that I’ve played with before in the club so it’ll be a new thing. It’ll be fun to learn a lot of new faces, a lot of new players which I’ve seen and played against, but not to play with.
“It’s different, but it’s all about making a connection."
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One unique trait about Manchester United is the brilliance of the match support the team gets, regardless of current circumstances or if the match is home or away.
The Danish international recognises this, stating “They’ve always been very good. There have been some very tough games in between, but always good memories. It’s always been very special to play at Old Trafford.
“In general, playing against such a big club as Manchester United, there’s always something with it. Like I said, it’s going to be weird being on the other side.”
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Eriksen is most likely going to make his unofficial debut this weekend either against Atletico Madrid this Saturday in Oslo, or the following day against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford.
His official debut could come against Brighton & Hove Albion at the famed Manchester ground on 7 August.
When asked how excited he is about his debut, his answer was simple: "Very. It’ll be very intense and hopefully a good way to start off my United career. The perfect place to do it, at Old Trafford."
Topics: Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Christian Eriksen, Erik Ten Hag, Football, Transfers
Dylan Penketh