Antonio Conte open to Christian Eriksen returning to Tottenham

Midfielder Christian Eriksen spent seven years with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur before he joined Inter Milan in January 2020, where he ultimately won the Serie A title playing under manager and now-Tottenham boss Antonio Conte. 

Inter terminated Eriksen's contract by mutual consent on Dec. 17 because local rules prevent him from playing for that club with the type of implantable cardioverter defibrillator he had installed after he suffered cardiac arrest at the UEFA European Championship last June. The 29-year-old joined Brentford on the final day of January and had his first training session with the Premier League side this week. 

Reports from late December suggested Tottenham weren't keen on the idea of a reunion with the Danish maestro who will celebrate his 30th birthday on February 14, but Conte said otherwise on Wednesday. 

"For sure, Eriksen is part of Tottenham's story. To come back here would be a good opportunity for him, for me, for the club," Conte explained, according to Sky Sports. "But now he's signed for Brentford, only six months, and we'll see what happens.

"I'm the first person to be happy to see him again on the pitch because we spent a really good time at Inter Milan together. We won the league, we spent two important seasons together. I wish him all the best for the future. And you don't know what will happen. It would be good for me to have him again, to work together." 

As Avi Creditor noted for Sports Illustrated, it remains unclear when Eriksen will make his Brentford debut. Manager Thomas Frank ruled Eriksen out for Wednesday's match against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City and said he's taking the playmaker's status "day by day."