Antonio Conte is pleasantly surprised to see Christian Eriksen back in the Premier League, and the Tottenham boss admits he would love to work with the midfielder again.
Eriksen has not played since suffering a cardiac arrest during Denmark's match against Finland at Euro 2020 in June, but he has signed a short-term deal with Brentford.
Due to the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device surgically implanted within his chest in the wake of the incident, Eriksen was ineligible for professional football in Italy, meaning he had to leave Inter, who he had played for since joining from Tottenham in January 2020.
Indeed, Eriksen played under Conte at Inter, helping the Nerazzurri end their long wait for a Serie A title last season.
He is now set to make his comeback. After training with his former club Ajax, Eriksen joined up with Brentford at the end of the January transfer window.
Though Conte said Spurs had not discussed the possibility of bringing Eriksen back to north London, the Italian did not rule out a possible reunion in the future, explaining he met the midfielder by chance in a hotel on Sunday.
"No, honestly we didn't talk about [re-signing him]. I am surprised about this situation," Conte told a news conference ahead of Wednesday's clash with Southampton.
"I thought he needed more time to come back, to play in England. For Tottenham, he is part of the story and to come back here could be a good opportunity for me and him and the club.
"But now he's signed for Brentford only for six months, we will see what happens. I met him on Sunday, it was good to speak with him and see him with his family, and I will be the first person to be very happy to see him on the pitch again.
"We spent a good time at Inter, we won the league and spent important seasons together. Wish him the best in the future. You don't know what will happen. It would be good to have him again and work together."
Eriksen signed for Spurs in 2013, shortly before Gareth Bale's departure to Real Madrid.
He went on to make 226 Premier League appearances, creating 571 goalscoring opportunities – far more than any other Spurs player from September 14, 2013, when Eriksen made his debut, to January 28, 2020, when he left for Inter. Dele Alli, who has now left for Everton, ranked second with 218.
Of those opportunities, 73 were classed as big chances (a chance from which Opta would expect the average player to score), another team-high, as was his tally of 62 assists.
Indeed, only Harry Kane (136) boasted more league goals for Spurs in the same timeframe than Eriksen's 51, eight of which came directly from free-kicks.
