Glenn Hoddle admitted Christian Eriksen would be incredibly brave to return to football at the highest level.
The 29-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during Denmark’s Euro 2020 match with Finland last June.
He has since been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device and has not played since the incident.
Eriksen left Inter Milan last month and is training on his own as he looks to find a new club but keen to return to football.
“My goal is to play in the World Cup in Qatar,” Eriksen said in an interview. “I want to play. That’s been my mindset all along. It’s a goal, a dream.
“Whether I’ll be picked is another thing. But it’s my dream to come back. I’m sure I can because I don’t feel any different. Physically, I’m back in top shape.”
Tottenham legend Hoddle, who himself suffered a cardiac arrest in 2018, joined talkSPORT on Wednesday morning and gave his verdict on Eriksen’s plans.
He told talkSPORT Breakfast: “That is a really difficult one from outside looking in. The only person would be the doctors and himself who would know whether he feels good enough and whether he wants to take any risk.
“A cardiac arrest, as I found out, is completely different to a heart attack. The specialist said to me ‘Glenn, your heart is as strong as ever’.
“I couldn’t work it out and scratching my head. It depends on what has happened to the heart.
“It is almost as if the cardiac arrest is something, as was explained to me, electrical and the heart is more like your plumbing. They are two separate things, but if one cuts out it affects the other at some stage, particularly if it’s a cardiac arrest.
“It’s got to be individual. We can’t really judge, but he is going to have to be very brave to go ahead and do that.
“I would have thought he would be putting himself under some real stress, training wise, he’d have to do that first of course.
“In a way, I’d love him to come back and be healthy, that’s the main thing for his family and himself, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we did see him play again.
“Football is not as important as your life, but it would be a fantastic story. Only he has got that answer, but I’m not sure I could do it.”