Brentford boss Thomas Frank plays down talk of Christian Eriksen move

Thomas Frank believes Brentford should be “flattered” to be linked with Christian Eriksen but says he has not spoken to the midfielder about joining.

Eriksen revealed earlier this month that he “died for five minutes” when he collapsed during Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland last June.

He has not played since and is a free agent after his Inter Milan contract was cancelled by mutual consent before Christmas, with rules in Italy preventing him from playing with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device.

Reports have claimed the 29-year-old former Tottenham star has been offered a six-month deal at Brentford, but Frank says there has been no contact.

“This is a player that only plays for the top clubs,” Frank said.

“Something unfortunate happened to Christian and now things changed a bit. He deserves to play at the highest level and I hope he will.

“Under normal circumstances there would be no rumours with a club like us. I guess we should be flattered that there are rumours with a player of his qualities.

“It’s the same with all players out there – (Lionel) Messi, (Kylian) Mbappe, Eriksen. If they fit the criteria of no d***heads they can play for us.”

Frank, who worked with Eriksen during his four-year stint in charge of Denmark’s under-17 team, revealed he had not spoken to the player since the autumn.

He said: “Of course I spoke to him after the incident, but that’s a while ago, not since. It was in the autumn.

“I really hope he comes back to top football again, that is what he wants. Recently in a Danish programme he said his big aim was to play in the World Cup, I really hope he succeeds, I can’t see why he shouldn’t.

“For all Danish fans he was the biggest star before the Euros and, if he gets up to speed, he will be the biggest star again. We all want the best for him and his family.”