Antonio Conte has admitted that he would like to coach Christian Eriksen again as his Tottenham Hotspur side prepare to face Manchester United in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Eriksen, 30, worked under Conte during his time at Serie A giants Inter Milan before he suffered a cardiac arrest on international duty with Denmark at Euro 2020.
The playmaker made a miraculous recovery but his contract was terminated by Inter in December 2021, and he decided to join Brentford on a short-term deal for the second half of last season.
Eriksen then became a free agent over the summer and Man United decided to snap up the Dane, who is now under contract at Old Trafford until June 2025.
United's new No.14 has been a key cog in Erik ten Hag's machine this term, and his creative presence in midfield was missed on Sunday as the Red Devils played out a goalless draw at home to Newcastle United.
Eriksen remains a doubt due to illness for Wednesday's clash with Tottenham, but nevertheless Conte has talked up the former Spurs playmaker, who spent seven-and-a-half years with the North London club prior to the Italian's arrival as head coach.
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Spurs were linked with a move for Eriksen over the summer, but when asked at a pre-match press conference on Monday whether he attempted to sign the Dane, Conte said: "I don't want to speak about players of other teams.
"Christian is a player I enjoyed working with and a player I would like to train again, to have in my squad.
"But the transfer market is very difficult and I think he made a big choice to go to United and sign a contract for three years.
"I wish the best for him and his family, apart from the game against us and then for the rest of the season to be the best on the pitch.
"Now is not the time to say but for sure Christian was a player everyone wanted in their team."
The potential absence of Eriksen, who has provided three assists in 12 appearances for United across all competitions, will likely see either Scott McTominay or Fred play in centre-midfield alongside Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes.
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Conte, meanwhile, has also provided an injury update for his Spurs side ahead of Wednesday's trip to Old Trafford and has confirmed that Richarlison's calf injury is not as worse as first feared, while Dejan Kulusevski remains doubtful with a hamstring problem.
Asked whether Richarlison could miss the World Cup with Brazil, Conte said: "No, absolutely not. I can confirm this. The player is not risking missing the World Cup. Absolutely not. The injury about Richarlison he is doing a scan, an MRI and then we'll see how long he needs to recover. For sure against United he is not available.
"It's an injury but not so serious. A problem in his calf. He needs a bit of time to recover and then to be fit. I hope for him to play other games with us before the World Cup but for sure the injury is not so serious."
On Kulusevski's condition, Conte added: "Kulusevski is working. We are going day by day with him. I don't know about the game against Manchester United, the doctors are working with him.
"It's the same injury (hamstring). The medical department are working to recover him but at the same time there are situations that you have to go a bit slowly and not accelerate the process.
"Sometimes if you do that you worsen the situation. We hope to have him in the squad very soon. Deki is an important player for us and [Richarlison] is an important player for us."
Tottenham have won each of their last three games in all competitions, and securing at least a point against Man United would see them move above Manchester City into second place.
Oliver Thomas
