Journalist Dan Sheldon has provided some updates about the situation of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and his potential move to Tottenham Hotspur.
Sheldon was recently a guest on the latest episode of the Total Saints Podcast and he was asked about the situation of Hojbjerg. The journalist revealed that Tottenham have ‘fallen short’ in their initial attempt to sign the Danish midfielder.
The Telegraph had recently reported that Spurs have emerged as favourites to sign the midfielder and while Arsenal have also considered making a move for the Dane, it is unlikely he moves anywhere other than Tottenham or Everton.
When talking about Spurs’ initial approach for Hojbjerg, Sheldon said: “As far as I understand, Tottenham, in their inquiries, have fallen quite a lot short of what Everton have offered at first. I guess a lot of that will be down to well, how about we get X for Pierre and you can have Kyle Walker-Peters, but when you’re dealing with Daniel Levy, that will be how about you give us £20 million for Kyle Walker-Peters and we’ll give you £5 million for Hojbjerg and the Saints just aren’t going to play ball on that.
Are you confident that Spurs will sign Hojbjerg this summer?
Yes, we'll sign him
No, we'll miss out
“He’s a player that wants to leave. From my understanding, he views this as maybe his best chance at getting a move to one of the bigger sides because there’s not really a lot of money floating about in the summer for the top sides to go out and spend big. Tottenham obviously admire him.”
Sheldon clearly feels that it will be tough for Southampton to deal with Daniel Levy and he even hints at the fact that Kyle Walker-Peters could be involved in some sort of deal for Hojbjerg.
TIF Thoughts…
Hojbjerg has been an important player for the Saints in the 2019/20 campaign, having made 33 appearances in the Premier League so far. He has been the club’s joint fifth-best performer in the campaign, having picked up a WhoScored rating of 6.83 in the season.
This shows that he’s a quality player and will add depth to the Spurs side. As per WhoScored, Spurs’ weaknesses lie in stopping opponents from creating chances and defending against skilful players. Hojbjerg’s strengths lie in his ability to make interceptions.
So getting the Dane could help Spurs address their weaknesses of allowing the opposition from creating chances and defending against skilful players, as Hojbjerg specialises in intercepting the ball and winning it back from the opposition. So it makes sense for why Jose Mourinho wants Hojbjerg at Spurs.