Christian Eriksen reportedly snubbed Manchester United transfer because of the treatment Juan Mata received before Erik ten Hag arrived and changed his mind.
The Denmark international had been on United’s radar for quite some time before the summer when they snapped him up on a free transfer after a short spell at Brentford.
The Red Devils first registered an interest in Eriksen when he was plying his trade at Tottenham in 2019 and were trying to poach the midfielder then as his contract was beginning to wind down.
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According to The Athletic at the time, Eriksen rejected a move to Old Trafford after considering the treatment of Mata after his transfer to United from Chelsea.
Mata put pen to paper at United during the David Moyes era in 2014 and went on to play for the club until 2022, playing under Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
None of them were ever able to get the best out of Mata, who impressed during his days at Chelsea, with the Spaniard in and out of the first team in a tumultuous period for the club.
Eriksen viewed this as a red flag and in 2020 chose to snub the Red Devils and put pen to paper with Inter Milan.
After two years, Eriksen was back in the Premier League after his cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 game.
The incident threatened to end his career but he made a return to football with Brentford. Eriksen then left the Bees for United at the end of the campaign as Ten Hag took the reins.
However, Mata left Old Trafford after eight years of service, alongside some other midfielders who had been in and out of the first team over the past few years including Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba.
This made room for Eriksen to help kickstart the new era at Old Trafford under the Dutch coach and his transfer has proven to be remarkable for both his career and United’s progression.
Eriksen is now back in the United squad after been out injured for the past few weeks, and he could now return this weekend against Everton.
