Antonio Conte answers if Tottenham Hotspur tried to sign Christian Eriksen before Manchester United

Former Tottenham Hotspur star Christian Eriksen became a free agent this summer after running down his contract with Brentford.

It’s not wrong to presume that playing for Thomas Frank’s team was a sort of an audition – a point that Eriksen had to prove that he could still hack it at the big stage despite the unfortunate cardiac arrest he suffered in the summer of 2021 at the 2020 Euros.

Hence, it wasn’t a surprise that many clubs were linked with signing the Denmark international before the start of the season. According to ESPN, there was speculation that Spurs were linked with Eriksen.

However, the player himself shot down those rumours and clarified that the north Londoners never really tabled an offer for him. He said in August:

“It was only talk. They never really came with anything so it wasn’t really a thing for me to go back to Tottenham at the time and Man United were very early on, very positive and I had good conversations.”

Now, manager Antonio Conte has refused to confirm if Spurs tried to sign the former Ajax Amsterdam playmaker this summer. The Italian manager, speaking at his press conference before the game against Man United on Wednesday night, said (h/t Manchester Evening News):

“I don’t want to speak about players of other teams. For sure, Christian is a player I enjoy to work with him.”

“He’s a player that I would like to train him again, to have in my squad, but you know very well, the transfer market is very difficult and he made a big choice, a big choice to go to United, to sign for a three year contract.”

Conte acknowledges a lot of clubs would have come in for Eriksen given his talent, age, and contractual status. Having worked with him at Inter Milan during their time together in Italy, it’s not wrong to think there is a possibility he thought about a reunion.

“Now it’s not important to tell yes or no [were Tottenham interested], you understand. But for sure I think Christian was a player that every club tried to bring into the team.”

More Tottenham News:

• Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen could miss Tottenham Hotspur reunion
• Tottenham questioned for pursuing Leicester City’s James Maddison by Spurs icon Paul Robinson
• Spurs Transfer News: Tottenham target Leonardo Bonucci asks to leave Juventus in January

The 30-year-old, however, could be an absentee tomorrow in case he doesn’t recover fast enough to make Ten Hag’s squad for the Premier League game at Old Trafford. After all, he was completely left out of the Red Devils’ matchday squad for their recent 0-0 draw against Newcastle United due to illness.