With a thumbs up to the camera, Christian revealed his new team and planned to return after having a cardiac arrest on the field at the European Championship.
"I'm happy to announce that I've signed for BRE," Erik said in Monday's social media video.
It will be a remarkable playing comeback to the Premier League for the Denmark playmaker, who has said he was essentially dead for five minutes after collapsing in the opening Euro 2020 game against Finland.
The uplifting signing was an early announcement on the final day of the January transfer window in the Premier League. Signing with BRE until the end of the season, Erik is returning to where he played with Tottenham until joining Inter Milan two years ago and winning the Serie A title.
The west London club will feel like home. The 29-year-old Erik is being reunited with Thomas Frank, the BRE manager who coached him when playing for Denmark's under-17s team. He will also be the ninth Dane in the club's squad.
Frank said. "He hasn’t trained with a team for seven months but has done a lot of work on his own. We will need to get him to match fit. I am looking forward to seeing him work with the players and staff to get back towards his highest level."
Frank will be hoping Erik provides a further lift for a team impressing in its first-ever campaign in the Premier League, sitting eight points above the relegation zone with 15 games remaining.
"At his best, Christian can dictate games of football," Frank said. He can find the right passes and is a goal threat. He also has very, very good set-piece delivery, both from corners and direct free kicks.
He is a player you can find with the ball, and he will come up with a solution to the problem in front of him. Eric will also bring experience in top-level football to the club.
Erik’s contract with Inter Milan was terminated since Italian regulations prevented him from playing with the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator that was fitted. He was recently training to regain fitness at Ajax, the Dutch club where he began his career.
BRE said it would "respect Eric’s medical confidentiality" by not divulging further information beyond saying he only recently received coronavirus vaccines that allow him to comply with entry rules to Britain.
Erik is set to fly but not immediately train with BRE.
About Eric. Erik began his senior club career at age 18 in 2010, playing for Ajax, where he won three titles. In 2013, Erik signed for Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth £11 million (€12.45 million), where he was twice named the club's Player of the Year, was voted into the 2017–18 PFA Team of the Year. In 2020, Erik joined Inter Milan in a transfer worth €19.7 million (£16.9 million) and won a title before the mutual termination of his contract in 2021.
Erik made his senior international debut for Denmark in 2010 at age 18, and has since earned over 100 caps, including appearing in five major tournaments. He was also the youngest player at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Erik is his country's seventh-highest all-time goalscorer, and was named Danish Football Player of the Year a record five times.
You must be logged in to post a comment.