Manchester United have found their ideal Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard replacement

Eyebrows were raised when Manchester United's interest in Christian Eriksen first became apparent this summer. You could understand why some supporters didn't see the sense in it.

Eriksen's recent history is complicated and United have been intertwined with the player for a few years, without him ever actually coming close to an Old Trafford move. In his Tottenham days, Eriksen was among the Premier League's most coveted talents, a genuine game-changing playmaker who United admired from afar.

Had Mauricio Pochettino made the move to Manchester in 2019, Eriksen might have joined his former Spurs boss at United. Instead, a year later he joined ex-Reds Romelu Lukaku, Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez in Antonio Conte's lockdown Inter Milan squad, which was quickly becoming a Serie A reimagining of the Premier League's 2014-18 elite.

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Conte's theory that the former stars of the English top flight could thrive in Italy a few years down the line was proven right in the cases of Lukaku and Sanchez, who both made contributions en route to Inter's Scudetto of 2020/21. And although Eriksen contributed in 18 months in Milan, he struggled for long stretches and many deemed him a player in decline by the time Euro 2021 rolled around.

Everyone knows what happened next to Eriksen, as the player suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch while playing for Denmark at the tournament. His life was miraculously saved, the football world stood still and prayed for his recovery. Few expected him to ever play the game again, let alone predicted what happened next.

Never mind recovering from the ordeal, Eriksen found himself playing top level Premier League football again within eight months,