Christian Eriksen concedes he spoke with Manchester United for several years but a move to the Red devils was ‘never really likely’ and signing for Inter Milan ‘wasn’t a difficult choice’.
The 27-year-old put an end to his six-and-a-half-year stay at Tottenham to complete a move to the San Siro for a fee of around £17million this January window.
Eriksen informed Spurs of his intentions to move on at the start of the campaign, with his deal due to expire in the summer, and United were linked with the Denmark midfielder.
But the player was keen to test himself abroad and United went on to sign Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon instead.
Eriksen insists a transfer move to United was never seriously on the cards and he feels staying in England would have been the ‘easy solution’ for his career.
Asked whether he had held talks with Manchester United, Christian Eriksen told BBC Sport: ‘For a few years but it was never really likely.
‘We did speak to them of course and we did hear what was possible and what wasn’t possible.
‘But, in the end, me personally, I wanted a new challenge. To stay in the Premier League would have been an easy solution.
‘Of course, staying at Tottenham would also have been a solution but, for me, it just came down to wanting to try a new challenge in a new country. Once Inter came up it really wasn’t a difficult choice.’
Eriksen claims he felt like ‘the black sheep’ at Spurs despite ‘being honest’ with his former club as he let his contract run down.
‘If you have a short contract, you will be the black sheep,’ he added.
‘Of course, I did the interview. I was very honest. I felt I had to be honest. I didn’t want to hide like a lot of players do. Everyone is different. I was honest. I wanted to say it out loud.
“I did get the blame for a lot of stuff, for being the bad guy. I read I was the bad person in the changing room, that ever since I said I wanted to leave, it was no good me being there.
‘To be honest, over the last few years, if anything came up, any player would think about leaving but I was the guy who said it publicly.’
