The New Warrior: Christian Eriksen

Born on 14th Feb 1992, Christian Eriksen is one of the best attacking talents in today’s generation. Having been associated with Amsterdam based Ajax for almost 5 years now, Eriksen admits he needs to be playing at a higher level to fulfill his true potential.

Starting his career, he had trials with Barcelona, Madrid, Manchester United, Milan and Chelsea, but he joined Ajax stating “My first step should not be too big. I knew that playing in the Netherlands would be very good for my development. Then Ajax arrived and that was a fantastic option”.

Young Achiever:

1) In 2005, Eriksen played for Odense Boldklub(OB), a club who competed in the Danish youth championships. His team lost in the semi final but he was awarded the “Best Technical Player” of the tournament.

2) Former Ajax manager Martin Jol compared him to the likes of Ajax youth products Sneijder and Van der Vaart and described him as a good reader of the game.

3) Scored a pivotal goal in Ajax’s 3-1 victory over City in the 2012-13 Champions league and has thus, gained heavy interest from the Etihad giants.

4) On 18 October 2011, Eriksen scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League against Dinamo Zagrev, making him the 2nd youngest player to score in the 2011–12 season.

Achievements:

1) Has already won 105 senior caps for Ajax, which include 22 goals at such a juvenile age of 21.

2) Won the 2010-11 Eredivisie (Ajax’s first Eredivisie title in seven years) and was also named Ajax´s Talent of the Year.

3) Named Dutch Football Talent Of The Year on May 23, 2011 (Only the second Danish Player to win after Jon Dahl Tomasson)

4) Named Danish Football Player of the Year on November 7, 2011.

5) Won 34 caps for Denmark as a senior player, after having played 38 matches as a youth player for them.

6) Youngest player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Ajax will be keen to cash in on the Danish talent, whose contract ends next summer. With Eriksen also stating a desire to move, the transfer will benefit both, Eriksen and Ajax.

Interested Clubs:

1) Liverpool

Ajax technical director Marc Overmars confirmed that the Merseyside Club are favorites to sign the Danish 21 year old wonder kid after they have been scouting him persistently throughout the season. They look set to have agreed on a 12.4 million Euro deal with Ajax but have yet to agree on personal terms.

2) Manchester City

Manchester City have also scouted Eriksen for a major part of the season. Having not brought in any major signings during the summer of 2012, has greatly affected City’s performance, seeing them having early exits from the Champions League and Capital One Cup, and also chasing a great deficit in the Premier League. City are in great need of boosting their attacking options, and Eriksen would be a great choice.

3) Manchester United, Tottenham

United and Tottenham also have a keen interest in the Danish attacker. Tottenham’s interest is for the fact that their most influencal player, Gareth Bale could leave them this season and Eriksen would be the perfect replacement. For United, Kagawa has failed to make an impact upfront, and Eriksen could be just the perfect replacement.

Why Liverpool?

1) Suarez

A similar deal was carried out in 2011 with Luiz Suarez playing as a centre forward for Ajax and then, moving to Mersyside Red, which proved to be a great move for the Uraguan striker. Since then, Suarez has played a pivotal role for Liverpool, with the club relying desperately on him for success. Suarez, as of today, is the leading goal scorer in the English Premier League for the 2012-13 season and is one of the most fierce strikers in the world.

2) Preferable position

Liverpool have great forwards in the form of Suarez and Sturridge and great midfielders too, with Gerrard and Lucas, but the one thing they fall short of is an attacking midfielder. With Eriksen playing that position, it would be a great asset for the team and also for the young Danish star to play alongside such legends. He could be just the perfect missing piece of the jigsaw.

3) Playing alongside youth players like Coutinho, Henderson, Sterling, Sturridge

Eriksen can set to have a great partnership with youngsters like Coutinho, Henderson, Sterling and Sturridge. All of these play in different positions and if they happen to gel well, they can prove to be dangerous even on the best of defenses of the world.

4) Opportunities

What Christian Eriksen guarantees to have at Mersyside is the chance to grow and excel. One of the major drawbacks Eriksen could have of joining Manchester City is the fact that talented players like Scott Sinclair, Javi Garcia and Matija Nastasic, who were brought in last season, have spent most of their time on the bench. Playing for Liverpool, he will have ample playing time which will help him fulfill his true potential.