Christian Eriksen is reportedly still set to leave leave Manchester United despite the arrival of new boss Ruben Amorim.
And that could open the door for Brendan Rodgers to finally snap up the midfielder with the Celtic boss holding a long-term admiration for the Dane from his days as Leicester City boss. The 32-year-old has impressed amid a dismal campaign at Old Trafford chipping in with seven goal contributions so far this term with his contract set to expire at the end of the current campaign.
Following the arrival some United punters expected the experienced midfielder to earn an extensions following the departure of Erik ten Hag – with Amorim officially stepping into the hot seat last week after leaving leaving Sporting. But transfer guru Fabrizio Romano claims Eriksen “will leave” United at latest by the end of the season and will begin negotiating with potential suitors when the January window opens.
And Celtic could present an interesting option for the Denmark international. During his time as Foxes boss, Rodgers made an attempt to sign Eriksen from Inter.
But in January 2022 talks were brought to an abrupt halt due to the £300k-per-week wage demands of the playmaker – and any similar salary expectations would see a similar end to the Scottish Premiership champions chances of bringing in Eriksen. At the time Rodgers said: “Ideally we would like to bring in someone who is more offensive if that player is available. But it is very difficult.
“Some will be out of our price range and we won’t be able to do it. If there is someone who can come in and support us in this period then we will look to do that.
“We can’t move away from what is our market and that is just financially the position we are in as a club. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t get very good players.”
But the Hoops boss hasn’t been shy in showing his admiration for the player since. Rodgers hailed the character of Eriksen as he fought back from suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch during a Euro 2020 match.
Just seven months after the incident, Eriksen made his Premier League return with Brentford. Going into a clash between the Bees and Leicester, Rodgers said: “I think there’s just a real positive feeling that he’s back on the field again.
“I think seeing him back on the field again really typifies and is a great example of his strength and determination to come back and fight. There is absolutely no doubting his talent – I faced him enough times when he was at Tottenham to see the talent and the effect he can have on a game.
“He is a big, big player. We saw that in the Premier League and when he went to Italy, and this unfortunate incident he’s had has obviously curtailed that a little bit, but the clips I’ve seen of him from being at Brentford, he just has quality.”
But could a deal be on the cards this time around? Celtic aren’t short of cash with the Champions League surge helping boost their transfer pot – and while it would buck the club’s trend of signing and developing young talent the temptation to finally link up with Eriksen could prove too great for Rodgers.