Christian Eriksen has once again been linked to a signing by Arsenal.
The 28-year-old former Tottenham player has struggled to secure a regular starting job at Inter since joining the Italians for £ 16.9 million from Spurs in January.
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Eriksen has not lived up to expectations in Italy
In November, the Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport reported that Conte would consider a trade with Arsenal that would cause Granit Xhaka to do the opposite.
The Gunners midfielder has been a consistent starter with Mikel Arteta, but faces stiff competition with 45 million pound summer contract Thomas Partey as well as Dani Ceballos.
The report adds that Inter want to see a healthy return on the fee they paid for Eriksen, who has started three of the club’s 10 Serie A games this season.
And Tuttosport has since reported that the exchange is still on the agenda.
Earlier this month, Eriksen admitted to being frustrated by his playing time.
“This is not what I dreamed of. I think all footballers want to play as much as possible. It’s never fun to sit on the bench, but the coach decides who plays.
“It is a special situation, people want to see me play and I also want to play. However, the coach has different ideas and I have to respect that as a player.
“Obviously, mentally it is difficult because I am not used to sitting on the bench, but now I have had to get used to it.
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Xhaka is wanted by Inter
“Right now things are not going well for Inter, but before, when they didn’t play a lot, the team won a lot.”
He added: “I’m concentrating on my football, then when the transfer window opens we’ll see if something happens or not.”
Eriksen played 305 times for Tottenham after joining from Ajax in 2013.
He scored 51 goals and registered 62 assists in 226 Premier League games.
Age Hareide, who spent four years coaching Eriksen for the Denmark national team, believes he is good enough to play more for Conte’s team.
“I think it is somewhat humiliating,” he told the Danish newspaper BT.
“It’s never fun not to start, but it’s humbling to be on the field [injury time], how it happened [in the 3-1 win over Bologna].
“Conte is wrong, Eriksen is good enough to be able to play more for Inter.”
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