Inter Milan chief executive Giuseppe Marotta has dropped the clearest hint yet that Christian Eriksen’s ill-fated spell at the club could be coming to an end.
Having become disillusioned with life at Spurs, Eriksen made a £16.9m move to Italy in January, but has struggled to pin down a place and does not appear to be in Antonio Conte’s plans.
Eriksen has been a bit-part player for Inter, and all five goals he has scored this season have come on international duty – including a winner against England at Wembley in October.
And a return to England could well be on the cards, with former club Spurs certainly a possibility while previous suitors Manchester United could again be interested. More intriguing still is the possibility of Eriksen trying his luck on the other side of North London at Arsenal, who have certainly been short on goals and creativity this season.
“If by January Eriksen has played little, he will himself ask to leave,” Marotta told Sky in Italy.
“We have to do it without any controversy from one side or the other, simply by considering it as a positive transfer move that has not been functioning for our technical-tactical needs.
“Will Eriksen be useful for this January’s transfer window? Functional is the most correct term. It happens. Football history is full of cases like this; that there are players who turn out not to be functional to a guideline in the system of play. It is up to the manager to evaluate this.
“Last January, we grabbed an opportunity; we signed the player for €20m, and he is a very good player. Then some difficulties can exist, but the manager has the right and the duty to pick the 11 players who give him more guarantee.
“Any ideas for his replacement? We always look at opportunities. It is not easy to find solutions that are suitable for us.”