Christian Eriksen trained with Brentford for the first time on Monday.
The Dane, who is making a comeback after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 last summer, flew into England on Sunday night.
The midfielder signed on transfer deadline day, and had been training with his former club Ajax, but took part in a Bees session with his new teammates for the first time. Brentford are next in action against Manchester City on Wednesday.
The former Tottenham midfielder’s return to the Premier League is a remarkable story.
Since suffering the cardiac arrest during Denmark’s match against Finland, Eriksen has been fitted with an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), which led to Inter Milan terminating his contract in December as Serie A regulations forbid players competing with one.
No such rules are in place in the Premier League and Eriksen has begin given the chance to revive his career with Brentford.
Thomas Frank was asked after signing the midfielder when Brentford fans could expected to see Eriksen on the pitch, a question he was unable to answer at the time but might be better placed to now the new signing has arrived.
“[He] has a solid physical foundation and has been doing all sorts of tests,” Frank said.
“He has been running a lot, training a lot, so he has done quite a lot over the last few months so his foundation is fine, but another thing is to get up to match speed.
“It is hard to say when he is available. I will know a lot more after Monday. I hope weeks, a few weeks, but I don’t know.
“I am much more clever when I have seen him train.”
There is unsurprisingly huge excitement about Eriksen’s return to England, though there will likely be some nervousness when he makes his competitive return.
Frank has no concerns about the 29-year-old’s physical condition and believes it will be a huge moment in Brentford’s history when Eriksen takes to the pitch for the first time.
“I am not a doctor, but the specialists that have seen him and met him and tested him know that everything is perfect,” Frank said.
“I know Christian and his family will not take the slightest risk that something could happen if he is training or playing a football match.
“For me it is down to the mental part of it, down to getting back to the rhythm, playing football at a top, top level.
“It is potentially the greatest signing ever for the club.
“The story behind it, I think it will be an unbelievable day the day Christian steps on the pitch. You guys have seen him performing as one of the best in the Premier League and what happened to him in June was crazy and a shock for us.
“The day he returns it will be emotional.”
