This is the player profile of the current Denmark and Inter Milan player and former Tottenahm Hotspur Player.
Table of Contents
Basic Information about Christian Eriksen
Full Name: Christian Dannemann Eriksen
Date of Birth: 14th February, 1992
Place of Birth: Middelfart, Denmark
Height: 5ft 10in (1.77m)
Professional Details of Christian Eriksen
Playing Position: Attacking Midfielder
Youth Career: 2005- Middelfart G&BK and OB | 2008 – 2010 Ajax
Senior Career: 2010 – 2013 Ajax | 2013 – 2020 Tottenham Hotspur | 2020 – Present Inter Milan
National Teams: 2007 – 2009 Denmark U17 | 2009 Denmark U18 | 2009 – 10 Denmark U19 | 2011 – Denmark U21 | 2010 – Denmark
Early Career of Christian Eriksen
Born in Middelfart, Denmark, Eriksen followed in the footsteps of his father Thomas when he started playing soccer at the local team’s Middelfart G&BK academy. Eriksen’s father was also one of the coaches at the time and, in 2004, they helped the youth team finish undefeated at the local youth championship for the third time in a four-year span.
In 2005, he switched his club to Odense Boldklub and competed in the Danish Youth Championships. During his first appearance for the team it reached the semi-finals of the championship and lost, but Christian Eriksen was named as ‘Best Technical Player’. In the year afterwards, he had helped the club to an age category title. It was at Odense that Eriksen began to show his technical ability, and his dribbling and free-kick technique was praised by then-coach Tonny Hermansen.
The following year, he joined Odense BK , which was competing in the Danish youth championship and, his performance in the youth ranks attracted the attention of several major European clubs, such as Chelsea and Barcelona. Eriksen ended up testing at both clubs, as well as Real Madrid, Manchester United, and AC Milan, but eventually decided to sign for Ajax, stating: “My first step shouldn’t be too big. I knew playing in the Netherlands would be very good for my development. Then Ajax came along and it was a fantastic option.”
Professional Career of Christian Eriksen
AFC Ajax
On October 17, 2008, Eriksen signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Ajax Amsterdam. The transfer fee received by the OB was estimated at € 1 million (£ 847,199), while Middelfart also received a sum of € 35,000 which it subsequently used to build a football field. Passed by the lower echelons of Ajax and in January 2010 he was promoted to the first team, where he received the number 51.
Eriksen’s form throughout the season earned him the praise of coach Martin Jol , who compared him to the former youth players like Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart, and the Danish legend Michael Laudrup, because of his reading of the game in the traditional role of number 10.
Eriksen claimed number eight for the following season and started the 2010-11 season well, scoring his first Ajax league goal on 29 August 2010 in an away win against De Graafschap. At the end of the season he was named Ajax Talent of the Year. His form throughout the season also earned him the Best Dutch Footballer of the Year award, which made him the second Danish player to win the award since Jon Dahl Tomasson in 1996. Johan Cruyff , whose jury selected Eriksen for the award, described Eriksen as a typical Danish school product and added to previous comparisons between himself and Brianand Michael Laudrup.
Eriksen and Ajax repeated the feat in the 2012-13 season , after which they chose not to renew their contract with the club. With only one year left on his contract, Eriksen reached an agreement with Tottenham Hotspur of England. Eriksen left Ajax after having played 162 games in all competitions and having scored 32 goals.
In addition to his successes in the league, he had participated in three consecutive editions of the Dutch Super Cup , which Ajax won on one occasion.
Tottenham Hotspur
On August 30, 2013, the Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League announced it had completed the transfer of Eriksen from Ajax in a deal believed to be worth 11 million pounds (12.45 million euros). Eriksen joined the club on the same day as Erik Lamela from Roma and Vlad Chiricheș from Steaua Bucurest, raising the club’s total spending in the 2013 summer transfer window to £ 109.5 million. By the end of the season, he had scored ten goals and given 13 assists in all competitions, won the Best Player of the Year award in Denmark and was named Tottenham’s best player of the season.
Prior to the 2014-15 season , Tottenham appointed Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s new manager following the unsuccessful spell under Villas-Boas and interim manager Tim Sherwood. By the end of the calendar year, Eriksen completed the 2014-15 campaign having participated in all Premier League matches for Mauricio Pochettino, starting all but one match and scoring 12 goals on open play, more than any other player in England, and shortly thereafter received his second consecutive Danish Footballer of the Year award.
The Christian Erikson Quote
My first step should not be too big. I knew that playing in the Netherlands would be very good for my development. Then Ajax arrived and that was a fantastic option.”
– On transfer to Ajax from Odense Boldklub
