Christian Eriksen is seemingly on the brink of remaining at Manchester United for the remainder of the year.
When the 32-year-old returned to pre-season training having played regularly for Denmark at Euro 2024, the expectation was that a move elsewhere would materialise.
Eriksen had dropped down the pecking order at the back end of the last campaign and had publicly revealed his desire for more game time.
With just a year remaining on his contract, it was clear that fresh terms would not be penned during the summer as he awaited offers.
However, the summer transfer window for the majority of nations closed on Friday without the playmaker finding a new club.
On Sunday, Eriksen was presented with his first minutes of the season, being introduced as an 86th-minute substitute when United were already 3-0 down to Liverpool.
Eriksen to stay put?
Hope remained for Eriksen that a move to the Eredivisie would still happen having previously enjoyed a legendary stint with Ajax up until 2014 where he contributed 32 goals and 65 assists from just 163 appearances.
Theoretically, Ajax could have benefitted from the added experience in their engine room or the final third after an inconsistent start to 2024-25.
Instead, Eriksen's agent has already ended talk regarding his future, telling Voetbal International: "We can end those speculations."
As per another Dutch outlet in De Telegraaf, Ajax do not have the finances to get any kind of deal over the line.
Ajax would reportedly need to cash in on Steven Bergwijn if they were to have any chance of facilitating the arrival of Eriksen.
What now?
Eriksen has now headed off on international duty with Denmark, where he will expect to be involved against Switzerland and Serbia in the UEFA Nations League.
When he returns, United face a hectic schedule with EFL Cup and Europa League fixtures added to the calendar, and Eriksen can expect game time in those competitions.
However, as it stands, he is behind Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro and potentially Toby Collyer in the midfield pecking order.
When Casemiro was withdrawn at half time against Liverpool, Collyer got the nod over Eriksen.
