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Brentford boss Thomas Frank has suggested the Bees are still in the race to sign Christian Eriksen despite the Dane edging closer to joining Manchester United.
Eriksen, 30, has reportedly agreed to join the Red Devils on a three-year contract following the expiration of his short-term deal with Brentford.
The Danish midfielder excelled under Thomas Frank during the latter stages of last season, making 11 appearances, where he scored one goal and provided four assists.
Despite Eriksen seemingly heading towards Old Trafford, Frank is adamant Brentford have not missed out on the Dane just yet.
The Bees boss told BT in Denmark:
“Right now he’s not a Brentford player, but he’s not a player with anyone else either. It may well be that right now it looks like it’s going to be a different place than with us, but let’s see."
When Frank was asked whether there was a possibility Eriksen would be a Brentford player come next season, he responded:
"What am I supposed to answer to that? I have to be optimistic, but I do read newspapers. Let’s see what happens.”
It had seemed that Eriksen was keen to remain in London, having flourished not only at Brentford but Tottenham Hotspur previously.
Frank has revealed that he is still in contact with the 30-year-old:
“I’m communicating with Christian, but we’ll keep that to ourselves until he’s either signed here or somewhere else. We’ve offered him a contract and he’s had to figure out what he wants to do with his life and career. So he has an offer from us, but I don’t know what else is. I assume, however, that there are offers from just about everyone else."
The Brentford manager then concluded by detailing talks with the midfielder:
“I talked to him for five minutes up in the national team camp [likely in June] and we have been in dialogue since. But I have not met him in Copenhagen. We have told him our good story here, and he knows that version.”
Manchester United can ill-afford to miss out on Christian Eriksen
Manchester United head off to Thailand for their pre-season tomorrow (July 8) with just one signing sealed.
Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia has joined in a £13.5 million deal, signing a four-year deal with the option of a further year.
The Red Devils were expected to make major changes to their squad off the back of a disappointing 2021/22 campaign.
Thus far, just one signing has been made and the required rebuild of Manchester United is looking less and less likely to come to fruition.
The club's long pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong shows no signs of reaching a conclusion anytime soon.
Hence, Manchester United will need to get a move on and secure Christian Eriksen as their second summer signing.
