Why Erik ten Hag’s assessment of Christian Eriksen is correct following Man Utd transfer

Of Manchester United’s three summer signings so far this window, Christian Eriksen is perhaps the only one who fans know exactly what he can offer.

That’s mainly because the Danish international has spent seven successful years in the Premier League - six and half at Tottenham Hotspur and that short stint with Brenford last term - while he’s also impressed for a spell in Italy, and during his time in the Netherlands and on the international stage.

There’s less certainty surrounding the arrivals of Tyrell Malacia and Lisandro Martinez, with question marks regarding the latter’s physicality, while Malacia isn’t expected to regularly occupy a spot in the starting XI.

But in Eriksen, United have recruited someone who will immediately be able to meet the demands of Premier League football, and should provide plenty of goals for team-mates.

It’s even something Erik ten Hag alluded to earlier this week: “He’s creative, he has ideas. I think especially our strikers will also be happy because he’s the one who can involve them in the game,” said the new United manager.

It’s the second point which is most intriguing for those who watched a United team that struggled when it came to link-up play last season, one that often found it difficult to exchange free-flowing passes and were hampered by the lack of movement from Cristiano Ronaldo up top.

That is in direct contrast to what has been on show in pre-season, with the front three of Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford looking threatening and interchanging positions freely.

So, by Ten Hag’s logic, United should become even more connected following the arrival of Eriksen, and we’ve had a look at what impact his creativity has had on teams in recent years.

Eriksen’s assist record

During Eriksen’s time at Spurs, he provided an impressive 90 assists from 305 appearances.

Unsurprisingly, Harry Kane benefited most in the Spurs side, with 27 of those assists resulting in goals for the striker, indicating Ten Hag’s assessment of Eriksen is correct, despite former Tottenham team-mates Heung-min Son and Dele Alli actually setting Kane up for a goal more regularly than Eriksen.

The 30-year-old continued his impressive assists record at Brentford, where his January arrival transformed a club in freefall to one that beat Chelsea, West Ham United and Watford in consecutive matches over April.

From his 11 appearances, Eriksen contributed four assists, three of which were scored by attackers, while at international level his record is 38 assists from 115 caps.

In fact, excluding his time at Inter Milan, the Dane has consistently provided goal scoring opportunities for his team-mates.

At the San Siro, Eriksen produced just three assists from 60 matches, and only one for the free-scoring Romelu Lukaku. However, his subpar record is partly due to him playing more of a bit part role for Inter, with nearly half of those appearances coming off the bench, while he completed 90 minutes just five times for the club.

Eriksen was also deployed predominantly in a defensive-midfield role by Antonio Conte, a position from which he struggled to create chances.

That in itself is a lesson for Ten Hag, who must find a way of playing with Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes in the same team, but should he wish to harness the former’s creativity then pushing Eriksen into a deeper role must be avoided.

But for any doubts about the former Ajax man’s impact, a look at his record in the final three full years at Spurs indicates the level he can operate at.

In that period, Eriksen registered 37 assists in the Premier League, more than any other player - including Kevin De Bruyne - and United’s new signing was the only player to register 10+ assists in all three of those seasons.

While a similar tally seems unlikely for Eriksen given his numbers have slowly declined at club and international levels over recent years, there’s no doubt he’ll add more flair and inventiveness from the middle, something the Red Devils sorely lacked last season.