Christian Eriksen returned to the pitch and played his first minutes in the Brentford shirt. He featured in the behind closed doors friendly against fifth-tier side Southend United. Brentford won the game 3-2, with Eriksen assisting one of his team’s goals.

Christian Eriksen
Christian Eriksen played his first minutes since June in Brentford’s friendly match against Southend. (Image: Twitter/brentfordfc)

The 30-year-old Dane started the game and tried to make himself as busy as possible in midfield. He assisted Josh Dasilva for the first of his three goals, also missing two big chances in the first half. Eriksen came off after 60 minutes, happy to have played his first game in eight months. Christian, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s game against Finland at Euro 2020, back in June. The highly skilled midfielder needed to be implanted with a cardioverter-defibrillator in order to return to normal life.

Sports rules in Italy stop professional players from using such devices, so Eriksen’s contract with Inter needed to be terminated. Following several weeks of negotiations, the player and his representatives accepted Brentford’s initial five-month proposal. There is an option to extend the deal for a further year starting 1 July.

Eriksen is ready for Premier League action

Eriksen is said to have had offers from the Netherlands, as well as the Premier League, where he previously played for Tottenham for almost eight years.

Earlier this year, the player confirmed he was still dreaming of making Denmark’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.

Eriksen is hopeful to make his official debut for Brentford as soon as possible. The big day could come at the weekend when Brentford travels to North London for the Arsenal game. The Bees are at +650 to win, with Arsenal at -225 and a draw at +330.