ROME: Christian Eriksen has terminated his contract with Inter Milan by mutual consent six months after suffering a heart incident playing for Denmark at the European Championships.
The 29-year-old has been fitted with a pacemaker. That means he is not allowed to play in Italian football, but other championships do not have the same rules.
“Internazionale Milano can confirm that an agreement has been reached to terminate Christian Eriksen’s contract by mutual consent,” the Italian club said.
“Although Inter and Christian are now parting ways, the bond shall never be broken. The good times, the goals, the victories, those Scudetto celebrations with fans outside San Siro — all this will remain forever in Nerazzurri history.”
Eriksen will now be free to consider his options with other potential clubs, and has recently been in training with his boyhood club Odense.
According to the Danish daily B.T, Eriksen mainly focused on physical exercises, but also trained with a ball, although this is not currently with a view to playing for them.
“Christian Eriksen is using the pitch for his rehabilitation” but “he is not training with our team,” Odense’s communications officer Rasmus Nejstgaardhad told AFP.
The former Tottenham man suffered a cardiac arrest in Denmark’s opening game at Euro 2020 against Finland in Copenhagen on June 12 and had to be resuscitated on the pitch.
Denmark then rode a wave of emotion at the tournament, reaching the semifinals.
The playmaker spent several days in hospital and had a pacemaker implanted to regulate his heartbeat, which would rule him out of even going to a gym in Italy.
Eriksen’s departure from Inter comes just days after Argentina striker Sergio Aguero announced the end of his professional career at the age of 33 following heart problems.
The former Manchester City striker signed a two-year deal with Barcelona but had made just five appearances, scoring one goal against Real Madrid, before being taken to hospital with “chest pains” after a match at home to Alaves in October.
Financially, Inter Milan, who are deep in the red, will make some savings by parting company with their biggest earner, although Eriksen’s salary, estimated at 7.5 million euros by the Italian press, was covered for a year under a FIFA insurance system.
Eriksen was a key member of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side that were runners-up in the Premier League in 2016/17 and then reached the Champions League final in 2019.
The Dane joined Inter in January 2020 and after initial problems settling into Antonio Conte’s system, was a driving force in their charge to a 19th Scudetto earlier this year.
Eriksen was unveiled at the Scala opera house in Milan when he joined Inter. Italian media reported on Friday that the club planned a tribute at their San Siro stadium before a game in early 2022.
The club posted a letter to Eriksen on their website praising his role in bringing the Scudetto back to the club last season.
“Christian was a key figure in our march to the Scudetto — a team effort to which Eriksen contributed with his vision, intuition, passing, assists and goals, including some big ones. Against Napoli. Against Crotone, in what ultimately clinched the title. Then another delightful free-kick to celebrate the title at San Siro on the last day of the season,” the note said.
“That is our final, happy, wistful memory of Christian.”