Those of us who witnessed the harrowing scenes of his on-field collapse playing for Denmark against Finland at the European Championships last summer will attest that Christian Eriksen’s recovery over the past year has been nothing short of a modern day football miracle and now Everton are reported to be among the long list of clubs to have offered him a contract for next season. The Times claims that the Blues have joined the likes of Newcastle United, Leicester City and Brentford – where he spent the second half of last season – in submitting a contract proposal with Manchester United and his former club Tottenham Hotspur also keeping tabs.
Given the player’s pedigree as one of European football’s elite playmakers, under normal circumstances it might have seemed strange for him to end up playing for a newly-promoted club but the combination of the serious medical episode on international duty when Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest, plus the chance to return to the Premier League under compatriot Thomas Frank after the termination of his contract at Serie A champions Internazionale, provided the player with a comfortable environment to launch his comeback. Having proven that he’s still an effective performer at the highest level, the 30-year-old now faces a big decision as to where he should ply his trade next season.
When considering the potential competition for his signature, it would seem that Everton might have to really sell themselves to Eriksen if Frank Lampard is to win the race but given that the Blues have yet to formally announce any player spending at all so far this summer – the arrival of another experienced player on a free transfer in the shape of Burnley’s out-of-contract James Tarkowski is expected to be confirmed later this week – what would the Dane offer? Looking at Eriksen’s statistics from 2021/22 on Comparisonator, it’s clear that he remains one of the Premier League’s most-creative players.
With 0.36 assists per 90 minutes, the Dane leads the way among midfielders ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne on 0.28 although Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure is third on 0.27. Eriksen is also in top spot for expected assists on 0.62 ahead of Manchester City pair De Bruyne on 0.57 and Ilkay Gundogan on 0.49.
He’s second for shot assists (1.87) with just De Bruyne (2.32) averaging more and third for both shots (2.23) behind Gundogan (2.6) and De Bruyne (2.56) plus shots on target (1.07) after Leeds United’s Mateusz Klich (1.17) and Gundogan (1.08). A combination of Eriksen’s passing range and Brentford’s direct tactics are also reflected as he tops the long passing charts with 5.98 per game ahead of Norwich City’s Billy Gilmour (4.59) and Mathias Jensen (4.03), a team-mate with both club and country.
Eriksen is hitting the mark in these scenarios too given that he leads the successful long passing charts on 4.19, with Gilmour on 3.03 and Liverpool’s Thiago on 2.87. As you might imagine, he features far less prominently among defensive parameters with only one placing in the top 10, with his 1.25 ball recoveries in the opposition half (picking up a loose possession) putting him ninth behind both leader Thiago’s 2.42 and seventh place Doucoure’s 1.28.
Clearly a class act, Eriksen would add polish to any midfield and this combined with him being available on a free transfer obviously makes him a much-sought commodity for potentially half a dozen clubs. Given their struggles last season, Everton – who have been strongly linked with him in the past – might have their work cut out to pull off what would be something of a transfer coup but the lure of playing under Lampard, who during his own career was the Premier League’s ultimate attacking midfielder, cannot be discounted.
- Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
