Christian Eriksen’s Inspirational Journey From Cardiac Arrest To Carrington

Manchester United are known for their inspirational comebacks, and their next signing has already made one of his own.

At Euro 2020 last year, in his country’s opening game against Finland, Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen tragically collapsed on the pitch shortly before half time, with the match being paused as a result until later that evening once the fans and players knew he was awake and recovering in hospital.

The events at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen rocked the footballing world, with it later being confirmed that Eriksen had gone into cardiac arrest. Many believed that he would never play football again and a large debate surrounding player health was sparked.

Christian Eriksen and Frenkie de Jong are both targets for Manchester United this summer, with the former set to join the club. (Alamy)

Fast forward around 13 months, and Eriksen has officially signed for Manchester United, one of the world’s largest football clubs. His journey from cardiac arrest to Carrington is one of inspiration.

After Eriksen’s collapse, he did not play football again until 2022. Due to Serie A’s rules, the Dane was unable to play for his club - Inter Milan - or any other Italian side with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device fitted.

Eriksen had returned to individual training, using the facilities at his youth club Odense Boldklub, back in his native land. He also trained with Ten Hag's Ajax to rebuild fitness.

In January 2022 the player and Inter Milan parted ways by mutual consent, with Eriksen becoming a free agent. Eriksen was, however, determined to return to football and signed with London outfit Brentford.

In his six months at the club, Eriksen wowed.

Even after such a major health incident - which many suspected would end his career - and then being out of action for around 7 months, the playmaker showed he still possessed all of the quality that made him one of the best attacking midfielders in the world for a number of years previously. 

Despite his contract being just a six month deal, Bees fans were desperate to extend his stay at the club.

Christian Eriksen playing for Brentford. (Alamy)

But it was evident that Eriksen could still contribute at a higher level, and both his ex club Tottenham Hotspur as well as the Red Devils explored the possibility of signing him. Now, he has a verbal agreement with United.

It is certainly an exciting deal for United fans, with Eriksen bringing versatility and heaps of quality to Old Trafford. But one thing that should be spoken about more is the player’s mentality to come back from a near-death situation and refusal to give up on his career in football. 

With Christian Eriksen now almost certainly becoming United’s second summer signing, whether or not he is a starter United fans can take pride in knowing that they have a player who they can trust to always give absolutely everything he has for the club – because that’s what this means to him.

United’s greatest ever goalkeeper bears the same nationality, and so Eriksen has large shoes to fill. But given what we’ve already seen him do in the last year, it feels like nothing is impossible for him.

Manchester United are currently on their pre-season tour in Australia and will hope that Eriksen is able to join the squad soon.

Tour 2022 continues back in Europe, with Erik ten Hag's men facing Atletico Madrid in Oslo on 30 July before heading back to Old Trafford to face Rayo Vallecano the next day.

The club then face Brighton & Hove Albion the following weekend at 2pm BST during the Sunday of the opening weekend of the Premier League season, by which point the club will have hoped to sign up to five new players.