Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel believes that the arrival of Christian Eriksen at his former club will convince Cristiano Ronaldo to stop pushing for an exit.
After scoring 18 goals in 30 Premier League appearances last season, Ronaldo has reportedly told United that he would like to leave the club. His agent, Jorge Mendes, is believed to have held talks with the likes of Bayern Munich and Chelsea about a potential exit.
United have been firm in how Ronaldo will remain at Old Trafford, with Erik ten Hag reiterating that message too with comments about how he is looking forward to working with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. And Schmeichel believes that the former Real Madrid star will be more content at Old Trafford now that Eriksen has arrived.
He told Tipsbladet: “There are many questions to which we lack answers. Is Ronaldo playing? Is Frenkie de Jong coming? I think it is difficult to predict the team right now, but no matter what, Christian Eriksen gets the chance from the start in many matches. There he must prove himself like everyone else.
“It’s a great feeling to pull a United jersey over your head. He is chosen to represent the dreams of many people. I hope he will enjoy it. He’s good enough and he can handle it. Christian Eriksen will probably become a superstar at United if he delivers what he can.
“He [Eriksen] must create goals. That’s what he can do. Eriksen has a unique way of watching the football game. He can deliver passes the defence cannot handle. In addition, he must be able to hold on to the ball on the final third, because that was a big problem for United last season.
“His qualities are seriously expressed when he has good players around him. Therefore, I think it would be nice to see him play with Cristiano Ronaldo. There you can talk about two well-developed football brains.”
Eriksen scored once and assisted four in 11 Premier League appearances last season for Brentford, who wanted the Denmark international to commit his future to the club. However, after plenty of deliberation, the former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker opted to put pen to paper at The Theatre of Dreams.
Ten Hag is keen to resolve United’s midfield crisis that has caused the club numerous issues over the years by signing Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona and playing him alongside Eriksen. But the Netherlands international is reluctant to leave the Camp Nou this summer despite reports claiming that United have already struck a deal with Barca for the midfielder.
De Jong worked with Ten Hag at Ajax and was brought into the first-team frame by the manager at the Eredivisie outfit, giving him the platform to show he is one of the most exciting young talents in world football, at the time. But in doing so, the midfielder earned his dream move to the Catalan giants, a dream that he is not willing to let go of at this stage.
