Tottenham’s Danish star Christian Eriksen has revealed how close he came to signing for Sunday’s Capital One Cup Final opponents Chelsea.
Eriksen is set to be a key player in the White Hart Lane club’s chances of winning the Wembley final.
And, speaking at a Tottenham Hotspur Foundation event highlighting the Education and Football Development Centre programme, Eriksen spoke of how the Blues courted him at the age of 14.
He said: “I enjoyed myself during the trials but it was too big a step at that time.
“It was so different from what I was used to in Denmark.
“Everything was smaller in Odense – the training ground was different, the people were different.
“In England you can’t enter the training ground without permission whereas in Denmark you are free to go in.”
Chelsea were interested in signing Eriksen, however despite featuring in the trials against West Ham and Millwall, Eriksen, then 14, felt he wasn’t ready for life in West London, and instead joined Dutch giants Ajax when he turned 16.
He added: “It was a lot closer to home and it meant my mum could come over for my first month.
“The Dutch mentality was a lot closer to the Danish one, so it was an easy decision to make really.”
Spurs beat Chelsea 5-3 on New Year’s Day, after losing the previous meeting at Stamford Bridge 3-0.
Steve Osborne @Pack3rNa7ion
