Christian Eriksen’s Dream Team price revealed as Dane signs for Brentford
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FIRST Philippe Coutinho, now Christian Eriksen, if Santi Cazorla rocks up at a Premier League later today then we've officially gone back to 2015.
The Danish playmaker, who famously collapsed on the pitch at Euro 2020, has signed with Brentford until the end of the season.
Having suffered cardiac arrest in June of last year, Eriksen has not played competitive football since and was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator device (ICD) to guard against a possible reoccurrence of the harrowing incident that cast a shadow over last summer's tournament.
As a result, the 29-year-old was released by Inter because Serie A does not allow players fitted with ICDs to compete.
However, Simeone Inzaghi's loss is Thomas Frank's gain and, given the circumstances, many neutrals will be glad to see Eriksen in the Premier League once again.
The former Tottenham midfielder will be added to Dream Team later today and we can reveal that he will start at £2.5m.
So what should Dream Team gaffers expect from the Bees' latest recruit?
Under normal conditions, this would be a truly remarkable bit of business for the west London club.
Eriksen scored 51 goals and provided 62 assists in 226 league games for Spurs between 2013 - 2020.
Those with an eye for numbers will see that works out at exactly one goal involvement every two appearances in the English top flight.
A prolific creator, he reached ten assists in four different league campaigns in Spurs colours - David Beckham is the only other player to have done that on these shores in the Premier League era.
Whether it's reasonable to expect Eriksen to pick up where he left off is another issue.
Having not even trained with a squad properly in seven months, a bit of ring rust is to be expected.
And who could blame him if he felt a tad nervous upon resuming top-level sport after what he experienced last time he kicked a ball in a match situation?
Frank will probably use Eriksen sparingly to begin with if all goes smoothly then he's the type of player to build a team around.
No doubt the strong Danish contingent present at Brentford was a factor in the signing and something that could help the midfielder settle quickly.
Sentimental Dream Team bosses may be tempted to transfer him in straight away but it's wise to remain patient in this instance.
More broadly, it will be a heartwarming sight to see him take to a football pitch again - some things are bigger than football.
