Former defender Wes Brown believes that prospective new signing Christian Eriksen can help bring the best out of fellow midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who endured a torrid 2021/22 season.
Eriksen, 30, has been offered a contract with United following the expiration of his short-term agreement with Brentford. The Denmark international’s return to elite level football has been remarkable, after he suffered a cardiac arrest during last summer’s EURO 2020 fixture against Finland.
Inter Milan were forced to cancel the playmaker’s contract despite his recover, as Serie A rules ban players with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator devices fitted from taking part in matches.
That left Eriksen free to join another club, and compatriot Thomas Frank offered him a route back to the Premier League with Brentford. Eriksen impressed after joining the Bees for the second-half of the season, and Frank is hoping to persuade the former midfielder to stick around.
Brown, though, hopes that he will opt to join United.
‘Christian Eriksen is up there for me as one of the best midfielders,’ Brown said ahead of the 360 Sports TV Masters Cup, taking place on the 8th July, which is available to stream on 360 Sports TV.
‘When he went to Brentford, he completely changed their season. He brought a lot of quality to that team. All of a sudden, with Eriksen there, managers were talking about how you need to stop Eriksen getting on the ball and into the box with his quality. They pretty much flew away from relegation once he joined.
Eriksen is believed to be weighing up the offers from Brentford and United, with an Old Trafford move complicated by the fact that fellow attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes is pretty much a guaranteed starter in the team.
But Brown believes that Eriksen and Fernandes can play together, and thinks that the Dane’s arrival could bring the best out of the Portugal international, whose performances were routinely criticised last season.
‘There will be a few clubs in for him, but ultimately, there won’t be a problem with Bruno Fernandes and Eriksen in the same team. You want the best players. It’s all about if they can adjust and play differently. Ultimately, you don’t know whether it’s going to work until you experiment and see how the games go.’
Brown, who won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions Leagues in a fifteen-year career with United, used an example from his playing days which gives him hope that Eriksen and Fernandes can co-exist.
‘The only time I’ve seen two players clash on the pitch was Juan Sebastián Verón and Roy Keane. Verón was a solid player that would like to come and get the ball off the defence and start to move up the pitch, but that was Keano’s job.’
, .
, and .
