Manchester United are keen to sign Christian Eriksen, who is available on a free transfer after leaving Brentford.
The Bees signed the attacking midfielder for free in the January window and offered him a short contract until the end of the season.
His displays for Brentford convinced them to retain him, so they offered a new deal to the 30-year-old. Thomas Frank’s side have faced firm competition from the Red Devils this summer, and it’s thought Eriksen is on the verge of joining Manchester United.
BT from Denmark have visited the manager in London, and he insisted he hasn’t given up on retaining Eriksen.
“Right now he’s not a Brentford player, but he’s not a player with anyone else either. It may well be that right now it looks like it’s going to be a different place than with us, but let’s see,” Frank said.
When BT specifically asked Frank whether he thinks the Denmark international will be at Brentford when the new season begins, he said: “What am I supposed to answer to that? I have to be optimistic, but I do read newspapers. Let’s see what happens.”
“I’m communicating with Christian, but we’ll keep that to ourselves until he’s either signed here or somewhere else,” the Brentford coach added.
“We’ve offered him a contract and he’s had to figure out what he wants to do with his life and career. So he has an offer from us, but I don’t know what else is. I assume, however, that there are offers from just about everyone else.
“I talked to him for five minutes up in the national team camp [likely in June] and we have been in dialogue since. But I have not met him in Copenhagen. We have told him our good story here, and he knows that version.”
The Brentford boss also detailed his compatriot’s reaction when the English club offered him a contract extension.
“He has been insanely happy to be here, and I know he considered us strongly when we gave him the offer, for many reasons. But I do not know anything about what he has decided,” the manager explained.
Although there are various reports stating Eriksen is now close to joining Manchester United, BT state ‘nothing has been signed yet’.
