Middelfart and Odense Born in
Middelfart, Denmark, Eriksen followed in the footsteps of his father Thomas when he started playing football in the academy of local side,
Middelfart G&BK. Eriksen's father was also one of the coaches at the time and in 2004 they helped the youth side finish unbeaten in the local youth championship for the third time in a period of four years. Eriksen ultimately underwent trials with both clubs as well as
Real Madrid,
Manchester United and
Milan, but finally decided to move to
Ajax, stating, "My first step should not be too big. I knew that playing in the Netherlands would be very good for my development. Then Ajax arrived and that was a fantastic option."
Ajax 2008–2010: Youth and first-team squad On 17 October 2008, Eriksen signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with
Amsterdam-based club,
Ajax. The
transfer fee received by OB was estimated at €1 million (£847,199) while Middelfart also received a sum of €35 000 which they later used to construct a football pitch. He scored his first goal for Ajax on 25 March in a 6–0 win over
Go Ahead Eagles in the
Dutch Cup and extended his contract with the club the following month. On 6 May, he played in the second match of the final of the
2009–10 Dutch Cup as Ajax beat
Feyenoord 4–1, prevailing 6–1 on aggregate. At the end of his first professional season with the club, Eriksen had played 21 competitive matches, scoring one goal, and had made his international debut for Denmark.
2010–2013: Breakthrough years in 2011 Eriksen took the number eight jersey ahead of the following campaign and began the
2010–11 season well, scoring his first Ajax league goal on 29 August 2010 in an away victory over
De Graafschap. Over the course of the next few months, he scored his first home goal at the
Amsterdam Arena, in a 3–0 Cup victory over
BV Veendam, and his first European goal, in a 3–0
UEFA Europa League win over
Anderlecht. In between the milestone goals, Eriksen was also named
Danish Talent of the Year. His growing capabilities as the team's playmaker saw him become an undisputed starter in the side and he helped Ajax to their first
Eredivisie title in seven years. At the end of the season he was named Ajax's
Talent of the Year. His form throughout the campaign also earned him the
Dutch Football Talent of the Year award which saw him become only the second Danish player to win the award since
Jon Dahl Tomasson in 1996.
Johan Cruyff, whose panel selected Eriksen for the award, described Eriksen as a typical product of the Danish school and added to previous comparisons between him and
Brian and Michael Laudrup. On 18 October 2011, Eriksen scored his first goal in the
UEFA Champions League when Ajax beat
Dinamo Zagreb 2–0 in the
group stage. In the return fixture the following month, he provided assists to teammates
Gregory van der Wiel and
Siem de Jong as Ajax recorded a 4–0 victory. Five days later he was named
Danish Football Player of the Year in recognition of his role in helping Ajax to the league title the season before and in Denmark's successful
UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. Eriksen continued to impress for Ajax and his strong contribution, both in terms of goal and assist returns, helped the club to a second consecutive league title. Eriksen and Ajax repeated the feat in the
2012–13 season following which he opted not to renew his contract with the club. With only one year remaining on his current contract, Eriksen was permitted to search for a new club and he agreed terms with
Tottenham Hotspur in England. Eriksen departed Ajax having made 162 appearances across all competitions and scored 32 goals. Along with his league success, he had also featured in three consecutive editions of the
Johan Cruyff Shield, which Ajax won once.
Tottenham Hotspur 2013–2016: Premier League introduction and League Cup runner-up in 2013 On 30 August 2013,
Premier League club
Tottenham Hotspur announced that they had completed the transfer of Eriksen from Ajax in a deal believed to be worth £11 million (€12.45 million). Eriksen joined the club on the same day as
Erik Lamela, who joined from
Roma, and
Vlad Chiricheș, who joined from
Steaua București, and took the club's total spending for the
2013 summer transfer window to £109.5 million. After the match, Spurs manager
André Villas-Boas commented: "It was a great debut for Christian, he is a pure number 10, a creative player and his individual quality made all the difference." Five days later, Eriksen "clipped a wonderful dipping shot" over the goalkeeper to score his first Tottenham goal and complete a 3–0 win over
Tromsø IL in the
Europa League. He added to his Tottenham goal tally with a goal from a free kick in a 1–1 draw against
West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day 2013, and the second goal in Spurs' 1–2 away win against
Manchester United on 1 January 2014. On 23 March and two goals down against
Southampton at
White Hart Lane, Eriksen scored twice to level the score and then assisted Sigurðsson to score the winning goal. He continued his goalscoring form on 12 April when he scored a stoppage-time equaliser to help Tottenham come from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 at West Brom. By the end of the season, he had scored 10 goals and registered 13 assists across all competitions, won the
Danish Football Player of the Year award and was named Tottenham's Player of the Season. Ahead of the
2014–15 campaign, Tottenham appointed
Mauricio Pochettino as new club manager after the unsuccessful period under Villas-Boas and interim-manager
Tim Sherwood. Between November and December 2014, Eriksen scored late winners against
Aston Villa,
Hull City and
Swansea City which he credited to the Argentine manager for raising the team's fitness levels. By the end of the calendar year, Eriksen had scored 12 goals from open play – more than any other player in England – and was soon after awarded his second consecutive Danish Footballer of the Year award. On 28 January 2015, Eriksen scored twice in a 2–2 (3–2 aggregate) win over
Sheffield United to send Tottenham into the
League Cup Final. His first goal, a 30-yard curling free kick, was later lauded by former professionals
Michael Owen and
Gary Neville. The final, played against London rivals
Chelsea, took place on 1 March and ended in a 2–0 defeat for Tottenham. Eriksen completed the 2014–15 campaign having featured in every Premier League game for Mauricio Pochettino, starting all-but one match, and scored 12 goals across all competitions. On 9 June 2015, amid speculation that he would be joining Manchester United, Eriksen confirmed to Danish media whilst on international duty that he would stay at Tottenham for the foreseeable future and was quoted as saying: "I feel right at home at Tottenham and I haven't thought about leaving yet." He did in fact remain with the club and scored his first goals of the season in October, netting from two free-kicks in a 2–2 draw with Swansea. In January 2016, Eriksen was once again named Danish Footballer of the Year. In doing so he became the first ever player to win the award in three consecutive years.
2016–2020: Premier League runner-up and PFA Team of the Year Ahead of the
following season, Eriksen signed a new long-term contract with Tottenham and starred once again for the club, scoring eight goals and assisting a further 15 as the club ended the league campaign as runners-up to champions Chelsea. Eriksen's tally of assists was bettered only by
Manchester City's
Kevin De Bruyne who set up 18 goals for the season. Eriksen also recorded the joint-most assists in the
FA Cup and later won the Tottenham Player of the Season award, claiming the award for the second time after previously winning it in his debut season with the club. On 9 December, he made his 200th appearance for Tottenham and marked the occasion by scoring in a 5–1 league win over
Stoke City. The following month, he scored his 50th goal for the club when he scored after just 11 seconds in the 2–0 league win over Manchester United. Eriksen's goal was the third-fastest goal ever scored in the Premier League, bettered only by
Alan Shearer and former Spurs captain
Ledley King. On 17 March 2018, Eriksen scored twice in an
FA Cup match against Swansea to send Spurs to the semi-final for the second season running. On 1 April, Eriksen scored a 25-yard goal in the away match against Chelsea, helping Tottenham to their first win in 28 years at
Stamford Bridge in a match that finished 3–1. Later that month, in the reverse fixture against Stoke, Eriksen scored twice to earn Tottenham a 2–1 win. Following the match, teammate
Harry Kane, who was challenging for the season's
Golden Boot award, claimed to have made the last touch on the ball for the second goal. Tottenham appealed to the Premier League panel who agreed that the ball touched Kane's shoulder and awarded him the goal. On 14 April, Eriksen was named in the
PFA Team of the Year for the first time, alongside teammates Kane and
Jan Vertonghen. In the
2018–19 season, Eriksen scored his first goal of the season in a Champions League away match against
Inter Milan. The match ended in a 2–1 loss for Tottenham, but in the home game against Inter, Eriksen scored again in the only goal of the game, giving Tottenham a 1–0 victory. He scored his first Premier League goal of the season on 15 December 2018 in the home match against
Burnley, a late goal that earned Tottenham a 1–0 win. On 31 March, during a 2–1 defeat to
Liverpool, he became only the second player after
David Beckham to record 10+ assists in four successive Premier League seasons. Three days later, on the occasion of his 200th Premier League appearance, he assisted
Son Heung-min for the first ever goal at the new
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before scoring a goal of his own in a 2–0 win over
Crystal Palace. On 23 April, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win over
Brighton & Hove Albion. Later on, Eriksen played in the
2019 UEFA Champions League Final, which resulted a 2–0 defeat for Tottenham against Liverpool.
Inter Milan On 28 January 2020, with his contract at Tottenham set to expire in six months, Eriksen signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with
Serie A club Inter Milan that would earn him €10 million per season. He made his club debut the following day, coming on as a second-half substitute for
Alexis Sánchez in 2–1 home win over
Fiorentina in the
Coppa Italia quarter-finals. On 20 February, Eriksen scored his first goal for the club, netting the opener in a 2–0 away victory over
Ludogorets Razgrad in the
Europa League. He scored his first Serie A goal on 1 July, in a 6–0 win against
Brescia. On 21 August, Eriksen played in Inter's 3–2 loss against
Sevilla in the
2020 Europa League Final, becoming the first player to lose two consecutive finals in the two current major UEFA competitions; he had lost the 2019 Champions League Final with Tottenham the previous year. In December 2020,
Giuseppe Marotta confirmed that Eriksen had been added to the transfer list for 2021; however, his teammate
Romelu Lukaku had previously hinted that Eriksen's struggles at the Italian club were due to the language barrier. On 26 January 2021, in the final minutes of Inter's
Coppa Italia quarter-final match against rivals
Milan, Eriksen was subbed on with the score at 1–1. In the seventh minute of stoppage time and with the game seemingly headed for extra time, he scored his first goal of the season from a direct free kick to win the match for Inter and send them through to the semi-finals. Following the match, Inter manager
Antonio Conte said that Eriksen would remain with the club, despite being linked with a winter departure. On 1 May, he scored Inter's first goal in an important 2–0 away win over
Crotone, bringing the club closer to their first league title since
2009–10. Inter were confirmed as league champions the following day, after closest challengers
Atalanta failed to win their match against
Sassuolo. It ended Juventus's nine-year grasp on the Serie A title. On 29 October 2021, it was announced that Eriksen was not permitted to play in the Serie A due to the presence of an
implantable cardioverter-defibrillator he had implanted after suffering a
cardiac arrest during a game at
UEFA Euro 2020. Close to half a year after his cardiac arrest, Eriksen began individual training at the facilities of his youth academy team
OB in
Odense in preparation for a possible comeback to football. On 17 December 2021, Inter confirmed they had terminated their contract with Eriksen.
Brentford On 31 January 2022, Eriksen signed for Premier League club
Brentford on a six-month contract. On 26 February 2022, his first appearance was as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to
Newcastle United - he replaced
Mathias Jensen, who came on in Eriksen's place in the game in which he suffered a cardiac arrest. He recorded his first assist since his cardiac arrest in a 2–0 win over
Burnley on 12 March. He scored his first goal back in the Premier League in a 4–1 away win against
West London rivals Chelsea on 2 April, helping the Bees secure their first victory over Chelsea since 1939. Between the date of Eriksen's Brentford debut and the end of the season, only
Kevin De Bruyne and
Martin Ødegaard created more chances in the Premier League.
Manchester United on the opening day of the
2022–23 Premier League season On 15 July 2022,
Manchester United announced they had reached an agreement to sign Eriksen on a three-year deal. On 28 July, it was confirmed that he would wear the number 14 shirt. On 7 August, Eriksen made his debut in a 2–1 home loss against
Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League. He provided his first assist in a 3–1 home league victory over
rivals Arsenal, setting up
Marcus Rashford's second goal. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 away league victory over
Fulham. Despite missing the final due to an ankle injury, Eriksen was a key part of United's
2022–23 EFL Cup winning side, having scored his first home goal for the club in a 2–0 fourth round win over
Burnley at
Old Trafford. In late May 2025, it was announced that Eriksen would depart the club upon the expiration of his contract at the conclusion of the
2024–25 season. His last match with United was on 25 May against
Aston Villa; Eriksen scored a penalty to help United win 2–0 on the last weekend of the Premier League season.
VfL Wolfsburg On 10 September 2025, Eriksen joined
Bundesliga side
VfL Wolfsburg on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year's extension. He made his debut for Wolfsburg in a 1–0 loss to
Borussia Dortmund on 21 September, and later scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 victory over
St. Pauli on 14 January 2026. ==International career==