Eriksen confirms that Chelsea were interested in him

Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen has confirmed that Chelsea were interested in him when he was just 14-years-old, as per the Daily Mail.

The Denmark international was playing with Odense in the Danish Superliga when he went on trial at Chelsea. He went back the next year but declined a third trial.

Eriksen, who has become an important player at White Hart Lane despite his relatively young age, chose to hold out for a club with a clearer path to first team football rather than entering the competitive Chelsea academy.

''Me and Rasmus Falk, my teammate from kids football and also Odense, went to Chelsea on trial,” Eriksen said. “I also went back the next year and had to think what I wanted.

''I played three games at under-18s — versus Millwall, West Ham and some other team. We ate together with first-team players and you see Jose Mourinho and Didier Drogba walking around.

''But the whole thing was really different to Denmark where everyone goes in and everyone goes out, no problem. Relaxed. Chelsea, boom, the door closes behind you and stays closed. It would be too big a step for me as a person back then.”

The Danish midfielder also had a trial at Barcelona but, after touching the ball just three times in 90 minutes in a match against the Catalonia national team, he decided the club wasn’t for him.

Eriksen went on to join Ajax, where he made a name for himself in Holland, before finally getting his move to the Premier League in 2013 for £11.5 million (fee via BBC Sport).

The 23-year-old did not miss a single Premier League game last season and has missed only three this season (due to a knee injury sustained in August) as Tottenham push for a spot in the top four.

Tottenham are on fine form this season and have not lost a match in the league since their opening day defeat by Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United, and are ahead of the Blues by 11 points.