Christian Eriksen has fallen out of favour at Inter Milan and may head back to the Premier League soon. Arsenal reportedly emerged as the possible suitors for the 28-year-old playmaker.
The Danish international joined Inter for ¢17 million in January from Tottenham Hotspur. But Eriksen couldn’t replicate his Spurs form in Italy. He played only 6 minutes in the league since October.
The midfielder stated publicly that he is unhappy with his current situation and it has to be changed. However, Antonio Conte doesn’t have Eriksen in his plans, hence a return to Premier League seems likely.
Christian Eriksen and Arsenal’s Midfield Issues
Mikel Arteta is desperate to bolster his midfield. Arsenal have been in pursuit of Houssem Aouar and Dominik Szoboszlai recently. But Eriksen’s situation at Inter and the player’s desire to return to the Premier League makes him a genuine candidate.
Arsenal have struggled to create opportunities up-front and have registered the fewest shots in the league. Also in Arteta’s preferred double-pivot midfield of Xhaka-Elneny offers little going forward. So Eriksen, who sometimes played as a deep-lying playmaker for Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino seems to be a wise choice for the Gunners.
Now, Inter expressed their interest in Granit Xhaka and may offer Eriksen in a bid to lure the midfielder away. The Swiss international, who has been a regular under Mikel Arteta since the Spaniard took charge, joined the Gunners in 2016 from Borussia Monchengladbach.
He was part of Unai Emery’s leadership group at Arsenal. Last year, his angry reaction to the boos of the fans led to him losing the captain’s arm-band.
Recently, his form hasn’t been good enough and his red card in the 0-1 defeat against Burnley has attracted more criticism. In this situation, the Gunners are likely to offload him and replace him with Eriksen.
Our Take
Christian Eriksen may be out of favour at Inter, but few will doubt his quality on the ball. He can split any defence with a pass and is very good at set-pieces. The industrious midfielder may be the final piece of the puzzle in Arteta’s squad.
On the other hand, Xhaka played some great games in the Arsenal shirt, but his consistency and disciplinary issues made him less popular among the fans. So a swap of Xhaka and Eriksen may be a win-win situation for both the involved parties.
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