Manchester United target Christian Eriksen looks like a perfect Erik ten Hag signing

The last time Manchester United signed a former Ajax player in his 30s on a free transfer it didn't turn out too badly. Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined the club in 2016 and a year later had pocketed the last two pieces of silverware to adorn the Old Trafford trophy room.

The 34-year-old was a shrewd bit of business by Jose Mourinho, scoring 28 goals in 46 games in his first season and showing leadership on and off the pitch, before a knee injury brought the story to a premature end.

Five years on United are back in the market for a free transfer with links to the Dutch giants. Christian Eriksen spent three years in Amsterdam and was back there at the beginning of the year, building up his fitness before his fairytale return to the Premier League with Brentford.

READ MORE: United and Tottenham interested in Christian Eriksen transfer

That gave Erik ten Hag an early glimpse of the 30-year-old's form and fitness and presumably, he showed the qualities that have lit up the second half of the Premier League season. It's a year this month since Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark in the European Championship, but recently he's looked as good as ever.

Those displays for Brentford have alerted some of the Premier League's bigger clubs to his availability and United are one of them, although they will face competition from Tottenham for a creative player who was perhaps at the peak of his powers just 12 months ago. He entered those Euros on the back of a major contribution to Inter Milan's Scudetto and a reunion with Antonio Conte in North London would hold obvious appeal.

United's interest in Eriksen make sense, however. They have lost creative midfielders this summer in Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata