The Christian Eriksen effect: 30x the usual demand for shirts, requests from Greenland, South Korea and Australia and orders from 21 different countries – how Brentford have broken kit sales records after signing Denmark’s hero
- Christian Eriksen has agreed to join the Bees until the end of the current season
- The Danish midfielder last played on June, 12 when he suffered a cardiac arrest
- Eriksen has been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
- The signing of such a high profile player has had a massive effect for the club
- Shirt requests came from Greenland, South Korea, USA and Australia
The Christian Eriksen effect is in full force for Brentford, who have experienced unprecedented demand for shirts since the Danish star signed.
Eriksen agreed a deal to sign for the Bees until the end of the season, returning to competitive football after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020 last summer.
The 29-year-old’s contract with Inter Milan was terminated in December due to Italian regulations preventing him from playing in Serie A as he is fitted with a defibrillator but he is set to grace the Premier League once again.
Christian Eriksen deciding to sign for Brentford has had a huge impact on shirt sales
The Denmark midfielder is bidding to return following his cardiac arrest last year
The playmaker will add plenty to Brentford on the pitch and is already benefiting them off it
His signing has generated a massive amount of interest and huge buzz around Brentford in particular, where he is the most high profile player in the club’s history.
An indication of just how big a move this is for the promoted Championship side can be found in their shirt sales.
After the signing was announced, kit orders came in from 21 countries around the world within the first 24 hours, according to BBC Sport.
Other than the day new kits are released, the day smashed records for orders, with 30 times the usual demand in February.
And orders poured in from all corners of the globe as fans from South Korea, USA, Australia and even Greenland opened their wallets.
The former Inter Milan man was not able to play for Inter Milan due to Serie A regulations
In Eriksen’s native Denmark, the demand for Brentford shirts was at the same level as in the United Kingdom.
Eriksen has been working hard to get back into prime condition for the rigours of professional football by training with FC Chiasso, who play in the third tier of Swiss football.
Before Christmas, he did a series of exhaustive medical tests to determine if he could play competitive sport again.
He passed with flying colours and chose to join Brentford after a phone call from Thomas Frank.
Eriksen worked on his fitness with Swiss third-tier club FC Chiasso and trained alone
The image of Eriksen regaining consciousness at the Euros will live long in the memory
Eriksen has had a defibrilator fitted and has passed medical tests with flying colours
‘In the middle of December, I gave him a call,’ Frank told The Times. ‘I said, “What’s up Christian? Do you want to come to Brentford?’
Eriksen will not be involved in Brentford’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Everton on Saturday but fans will surely be able to see him back on the pitch soon.
With the club sitting relatively comfortably in 14th, eight points above the relegation zone, they will be hoping the playmaker can help them add a creativity to their play that propels them further away from danger.