Conte would love to coach Eriksen again

James Shearman

Updated: 9 Feb 2022 20:17 GMT
3 min read

Christian Eriksen playing for Denmark at Euro 2020 before his cardiac arrest — © ProShots

Antonio Conte is open to the idea of bringing midfielder Christian Eriksen back to Tottenham.

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Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in Denmark's European Championship group match against Finland last summer and was revived on the pitch by medics.

The 29-year-old has since been fitted with an IDC (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) which means he has been cleared to continue his playing career.

However, he was not able to play for former club Inter due to Serie A's ruling on IDC's.

Instead, he signed a contract until the end of the 2021/22 season with Premier League newcomers Brentford, where he will play under compatriot Thomas Frank.

Tottenham return for Eriksen?

Despite the move to Brentford, Spurs boss Antonio Conte has not ruled out the possibility of welcoming Eriksen back to north London.

The Denmark international left Tottenham in 2020 for Conte's Inter, who won last season's Serie A.

And, while the Italian admits he did not consider signing Eriksen in the January window, he could sign him for a second time this summer.

''No, honestly no,'' he said. ''I was surprised about the situation because in my mind, honestly, I thought Christian needed more time before coming back to play in England.

''But now he’s signed for Brentford. Only six months, and we’ll see what happens.

When @ChrisEriksen8 hits them from range, they stay hit 🚀#GoalOfTheDay | @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/m1fqbSGgWo
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 6, 2022

''I’m the first person to be happy to see him again on the pitch because we spent a really good time at Inter Milan together. We won the league, we spent two important seasons together. I wish him all the best for the future.

''And you don’t know what will happen. It would be good for me to have him again, to work together again.''

The former Chelsea manger also revealed that he spoke to Eriksen last weekend.

''I was lucky because I met him on Sunday and it was good to speak with him,'' Conte added. ''I saw him with his family and it was good.

''It happened that I met him in the same hotel that we were both staying. We were lucky to meet each other, we didn’t prepare the meeting. It was only a coincidence to see him. But I repeat, it was great for me to see him with his family.''