Christian Eriksen: Brentford close to finalising six-month deal for midfielder

January 23, 2022

Brentford are close to finalising terms on a six-month contract with Christian Eriksen.

The Bees are now in the process of doing due diligence on his fitness to play. He will also need to obtain a work permit.

The medical process Eriksen will have to go through will be more complicated than the typical new signing given he suffered a cardiac arrest just seven months ago, while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020, and has an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) fitted to his heart.

Eriksen would need to be signed off by a club-assigned sports cardiologist before being registered to play in the Premier League.

The FA would not conduct its own cardiology report but it would review the signing club's cardiological assessment before giving the go-ahead.

The FA would expect the club-appointed cardiologist to be a member of their Cardiac Consensus Panel, which is chaired by Dr Sanjay Sharma - Eriksen's former doctor at Tottenham.

Brentford are in no rush to sign him before the January 31 transfer deadline given he is currently a free agent.

His contract with Inter Milan was terminated due to it being illegal to play professional sport in Italy with an ICD fitted to the heart.

Eriksen has said his heart is "not an obstacle" to get back playing - and in England athletes are given the autonomy to decide themselves whether or not to continue on the balance of risk.

It is not illegal in the UK for Eriksen to play with an ICD, but if he does, he will be the first ever in the Premier League.

Eriksen has been training just over the border in southern Switzerland as he looks for another club, but stepped up his preparations for a return this past week by training with Ajax.

Follow the January transfer window with Sky Sports

Who will be on the move in January?

The January transfer window opens on Saturday, January 1, 2022 and closes at 11pm on Monday, January 31.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.

Follow Brentford with Sky Sports

Follow every Brentford game in the Premier League this season with our live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch match highlights for free shortly after full-time.

Want the Brentford latest? Bookmark our Brentford news page, check out Brentford's fixtures and Brentford's latest results, watch Brentford goals and video, keep track of the Premier League table and see which Brentford games are coming up live on Sky Sports.

Get all this and more - including notifications sent straight to your phone - by downloading the Sky Sports Scores app and setting Brentford as your favourite team.

Hear the best Premier League reaction and expert analysis with the Essential Football and Gary Neville podcasts, keep up-to-date with our dedicated Transfer Centre, follow the Sky Sports social accounts on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and find out how to get Sky Sports.

Rate this item
(0 votes)

HOW TO LISTEN

103.5 & 105.3FM

Online

Mobile Apps

Smart Speaker