Christian Eriksen may have fond memories of his time with Tottenham, but it was all business when he made his return to North London.
The Dane spent seven successful seasons with Spurs, signing from Ajax in 2014 and establishing himself as one of Europe’s best midfielders. Upon leaving Tottenham for Inter Milan he admitted he could never see himself playing for another English club.
His situation changed after the near-fatal cardiac arrest he suffered on the international stage in 2021. Eriksen first returned to the Premier League with Brentford, before getting his chance back amongst the clubs competing at the top of the division.
Tottenham were in the mix for the cultured midfielder, only for him to instead join Manchester United. That move has paid off with United firmly in the mix for a Champions League place and Eriksen playing a key role.
Wednesday marked his first league fixture away at his old club and he was understandably given a warm welcome from the supporters who used to chant his name on a weekly basis.
However, he didn’t go along with the modern trend of not celebrating against his former employers. Jadon Sancho opened the scoring after less than 10 minutes, piling more misery on Spurs after their 6-1 defeat to Newcastle last time out.
And Eriksen had no issue with joining the celebrations, greeting Sancho who seconds before had cupped his ear to the home supporters. There were more celebrations for the visitors before half time as well, when Marcus Rashford ran beyond the Spurs defenders to fire United into a two-goal lead.
The 31-year-old, speaking before the game in the capital, opened up on the decision to leave Tottenham and the U-turn he performed to play for one of their rivals. "I think I really enjoyed my time there," he told United’s official podcast.
"We did have a very, very good team. And, every time, I'd be like no, I'm not going to leave for another team in the Premier League. I felt good at Spurs. You could see the opportunities for the future. Yeah, speaking [about it] is one thing but going for it is something else.
"I couldn't see myself [elsewhere in England] so it was also why, when I left Spurs, I didn't have the mindset of staying in the Premier League, when I wanted to leave. I didn't plan on coming back but then, two years later, I was back and you never know what is going to happen in football."
