21 years since Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy signed off with Return of the King, one footballing legend feels that a Manchester United star could do like Aragorn and head home amid a sea of adoring adulation.
His former club, Brian Laudrup believes, would welcome the 32-year-old back like a hero.
And rightly so.
Christian Eriksen was part of that Ajax side who won three successive Eredivisie titles over a decade ago, after all, and a tear-jerking homecoming for the Manchester United veteran would certainly go a long way to improving the mood surrounding a club where the air is threatening to turn toxic.
Ajax were hammered 6-0 by Der Klasiker rivals Feyenoord on Sunday. Their heaviest defeat in Eredivisie history, and a new low for a side who have taken a powerdrill to the scorched earth and found out that, yes, there is something below ‘rock bottom’.
Christian Eriksen facing Manchester United exit
“When I look at the possibilities and where he has come from and where he can do fantastically well for a few more years, then Ajax will be a fantastic place,” Laudrup, arguably the only footballer more iconic back in Denmark than Christian Eriksen, tells ViaPlay.
“I also know that Ajax have mentioned that they are interested. After his cardiac arrest (at the 2021 European Championships), he was in Amsterdam rehabilitating. He knows the city, he knows the language and he knows the club.
“They will almost receive him as a king returning home.”
Eriksen is highly-likely to leave Man United this summer. Ineos are looking to not only trim down the wage bill but also reduce the average age of the Red Devils roster. As such, Eriksen is expected to depart alongside fellow 30-somethings Casemiro and Raphael Varane.
“They might have a bit of an ‘old boys’ midfield with (Jordan) Henderson and Eriksen,” Laudrup warns, Ajax having signed the former Liverpool captain in January. “(But) there will be many exciting things about returning to Amsterdam.”
Is an Ajax return on the cards?
Eriksen has only got off the bench once in Man United’slast ten Premier League games. He was merely a spectator again during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan ace has made no secret of his frustration, though he can understand why Erik ten Hag is leaving him out of the starting XI at a time in which Kobbie Mainoo – a scorer against Liverpool – continues to go from strength to strength.
There is a feeling, meanwhile, that the pace and the intensity of the Premier League is simply too much for Eriksen to handle these days, especially with Ten Hag’s almost-basketball like approach leaving like chasing shadows on the transition.
“I myself have stated earlier that I am not satisfied with not playing,” Eriksen tells Tipsbladet. “But it is not something I lose sleep over. The team is performing, and so I have to respect the role.
“For me, I have been working hard and focusing on being fit for every game, and I am. It is easier now to accept my role than it had been before.
“I have had a conversation with Erik. I am, of course, dissatisfied with the situation and I would like to play as much as possible. But I am available and must be available for the team, which I am and always will be.”