Man Utd and Chelsea linked, but Juventus best for Eriksen future

Barcelona may already have an embarrassment of midfield riches at their disposal, but they are still favourites at 2/1 to be the club of Christian Eriksen at the start of next season.

Denmark manager Morten Olsen has already issued a warning to the 20-year-old to think carefully over his next move and virtually every big club is courting his signature.

Ajax have done well to keep hold of the playmaker until now, with the opportunity of guaranteed first-team football at a Champions League club perhaps pivotal to this.

However, Ajax will not realistically challenge for European honours again in the foreseeable future and so Eriksen will have to move to develop his game.

A move to Barcelona would offer ample opportunity to win trophies, but with competition for places so rampant, he may struggle for regular games, as Cesc Fabregas has discovered.

Ajax are 3/1 to retain the services of Eriksen and much may depend on their showings not only in Europe, but also domestically.

They are still unbeaten through eight Dutch league fixtures, but are in danger of slipping too far off the pace as five points already separate them from leaders FC Twente.

Of the Premier League interest, Manchester United are also 3/1 to be Eriksen’s club at the start of next season and with Sir Alex Ferguson always keen to do his transfer dealings early, this is a real possibility.

The big problem for this transfer is that Shinji Kagawa already plays a similar role to Eriksen at Old Trafford and even if Sir Alex decides he requires more squad depth, Tom Cleverley and Wayne Rooney could occupy a similar role.

Manchester City and Chelsea are other English clubs in the reckoning, but with the champions already having David Silva and Samir Nasri to call upon for creative flair, they have no space for Eriksen.

The same is true of Chelsea, with Roberto Di Matteo already having to incorporate Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata.

Therefore, the door may be open for Juventus to sign Eriksen, who can be backed at 8/1 to be his next club at the start of the season.

With Andrea Pirlo getting no younger, they do arguably need a new creative influence and Juventus have not been afraid to spend in the past season.

All odds and markets correct as of publication