Brentford manager Thomas Frank said on Thursday Christian Eriksen could be the club's "greatest signing" ever and he hoped the Danish midfielder would be able to make his Premier League debut within a few weeks.
The 29-year-old player joined Brentford as a free agent on Monday, seven months after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during a European Championship match.
Eriksen's former club Inter Milan ended his contract in December because he is not permitted to play in Serie A due to the presence of a heart starter device (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator).
"We got (the signing) over the line and that was fantastic," Frank told reporters ahead of Saturday's FA Cup match against Everton. "It is potentially the greatest signing ever for the club. You guys have seen him performing as one of the best in the Premier League and what happened to him in June was crazy and a shock for us. The day he returns it will be emotional.
"It is hard to say when he is available. I will know a lot more after Monday... I hope weeks, a few weeks, but I don't know... It is more or less impossible for me to say when he will be available."
"Christian will arrive Sunday and train with the team Monday. His foundation is fine but it is another thing to get up to that match intensity that we need. It is more or less impossible for me to say when he will be available"#BrentfordFC #EVEBRE pic.twitter.com/HV2w497W7K— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) February 3, 2022
Frank said the ex-Tottenham Hotspur player was in good shape as he had been training with former club Ajax ahead of the move but added he needed time to assess if Eriksen was match ready.
"Christian has a solid physical foundation and has been doing all sorts of tests," Frank added. "He has been running a lot, training a lot, so he has done quite a lot over the last few months so his foundation is fine, but another thing is to get up to match speed."
Brentford, who are playing in the top-flight for the first time in 74 years this season, are 14th in the table on 23 points after 23 games.
(Reporting by Silvia Recchimuzzi in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
