Fiorentina midfielder Antonin Barak has claimed he ‘could’ve been like Christian Eriksen, collapsing on the pitch’ when an illness saw him hospitalised.
Eriksen had an undiagnosed cardiac condition that saw his heart stop during Denmark’s EURO 2020 match against Finland.
He was revived with a defibrillator and later had a device implanted to help regulate the heart rhythm.
“It had started in a fairly innocent way, it ended up with bilateral pneumonia, there was fluid in the lungs, then it became pericarditis and I had to be hospitalised,” Barak told Diretta.it.
Pericarditis is an inflammation of the lining around the heart and can be extremely serious if not treated swiftly.
“At the time, nobody told me how serious it was, that it could affect my future career. I only discovered later that I could’ve been like Christian Eriksen, collapsing on the pitch at the Euros.”
This seemed to happen while he was on international duty with the Czech Republic in the summer of 2023 and Barak is frustrated at the way he was treated.
“I said what I had to say in a meeting with the important people, but none of the directors or coach Silhavy contacted me again, at least not personally.”
Fiorentina released a statement in response to this, insisting they had kept the medical situation ‘private’ because it was while Barak was on vacation abroad over the summer and not related to his football career.
The club also maintains the timing and description of the medical issues were inaccurate. This is likely because while pericarditis can be dangerous, most recover fairly quickly and he was passed fit by the FIGC in late August 2023.
Meanwhile, Barak also talked about just how close he was to joining Napoli in the summer of 2022.
“It was practically all done, but it all got complicated when Napoli struggled to sell Fabian Ruiz in time, as he was the player I was meant to replace.
“In the end, Napoli received this offer to get Tanguy Ndombele for free on loan from Tottenham and went for him instead. I was very angry at the time, but with hindsight, I don’t blame them for taking that route.”