• Premier League

Eriksen: Liverpool link 'special' but future undecided

Christian Eriksen has been compared to Lionel Messi © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Suso plans long Liverpool stay
  
• News: Agger: Tattoo proves commitment to Liverpool
  
• News: PFA chief wants diving review panel
  
• News: Rodgers takes aim at Shearer over Allen criticism
  

Christian Eriksen says he is flattered to be linked with Liverpool but is not thinking about leaving Ajax.

Eriksen, 20, has long been touted for a move away from Ajax and there has been speculation suggesting Liverpool could look to sign him as a successor to Steven Gerrard in the attacking midfield role.

However, the Denmark international, whose contract expires in 2014, insists his focus is solely on the Eredivisie champions.

Asked about the Liverpool link, he told Tipsbladet: "It's very nice that one of the big clubs is looking at me. It's very special, but I haven't been thinking about moving clubs at all."

Eriksen had said prior to the new season that he intended to remain in Amsterdam for a further year. "We don't know yet [what will happen]. It really depends on the season and how things are looking in the summer."

He has drawn comparisons with Lionel Messi in terms of his style of play, although he gives the notion little credit.

"I've read that," Eriksen said in Politiken. "It's nice that I'm compared with someone like Messi, but I don't think the comparison is about us as people - it's more the roles we play. I actually don't even know why Messi is the one they say. It's not the most obvious comparison even in terms of where we play."

Eriksen has been criticised for failing to meet the lofty expectations set when he broke onto the scene, and Denmark coach Morten Olsen recently suggested the media had "destroyed" him through overhype. Eriksen accepts that he is not playing at the standard some had expected but said: "I don't feel I've been destroyed."

He says there is "definitely pressure" to succeed at Ajax - a club strongly associated with the production of talented young players.

"You have some big shoes to fill," he said. "People judge you - 'He's not like Wesley Sneijder was' or 'He's not doing the things Rafael van der Vaart was'. No, I'm not - I'm Christian Eriksen, and that is who I will always be."

Despite the weight of expectation, he said he is relishing the opportunity. "It's one of the reasons I decided to spend this part of my career here," Eriksen said.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.