Tottenham are closing in on the signing of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton in what would signal their first foray into the summer transfer market.
Everton have rivalled Spurs for the midfielder’s services but Hojbjerg is said to favour a move to north London over Merseyside as he would be able to play European football next season.
According to Sky Sports, Spurs and Southampton are currently £10m apart in their valuations of Hojbjerg with the Saints’ asking price set at £25m.
However, with Hojbjerg keen on the move, in the final year of his contract and with Southampton looking to sign Spurs right-back Kyle Walker-Peters, a deal is expected to be completed.
If Spurs are able to sign Hojbjerg, what kind of player would they be acquiring and where would he fit into Jose Mourinho‘s midfield plans?
If he joins Spurs, Hojbjerg could follow in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas, Samuel Eto’o, Arjen Robben and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, among others, by working under both Pep Guardiola and Mourinho.
Hojbjerg only managed 564 Bundesliga minutes during Guardiola’s three seasons in Munich, spending half of that time on loan at Augsburg and then Schalke 04. The Dane was competing alongside Toni Kroos, Thiago Alcantara, Xabi Alonso, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillip Lahm, Javi Martinez and Arturo Vidal during that period.
Nevertheless, Guardiola was a big fan. “Pep had heard good things about Hojbjerg before coming to Bayern and it has taken just a couple of training sessions for him to fall in love with the player,” wrote Spanish sports journalist Marti Perarnau in his book Pep Confidential. “Pep thinks he may have just found the Sergio Busquets of Bayern.”
Early comparisons to world-class players rarely do a young player much good and the link to Sergio Busquets is an intriguing one.
Whereas Busquets completed 90 per cent of his passes in La Liga, Hojbjerg managed 78 per cent in the Premier League. While Hojbjerg is dynamic, Busquets is practically static.
One area where the comparison does stack up, though, is their positional sense. Busquets rarely ventures out of his central midfield zone and Hojbjerg is similarly disciplined, albeit having played for much of his time at Southampton in a central two, rather than a three as Busquets has at Barcelona.
Essentially, both players are there to provide a platform for more technical stars to flourish and both do so effectively.
Tottenham’s midfield puzzle
While Mourinho frequently changed systems, he started all of Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso in Tottenham’s final six matches. Although Spurs were unbeaten in those games, the pieces of Tottenham’s midfield puzzle don’t quite fit perfectly.
Lo Celso’s performances have been the most eye-catching and his ability to shuffle into a No10 role makes him essential to Tottenham’s tactical setup. With Winks and Sissoko, Mourinho has, in simplistic terms, a passer and a runner. Although Hojbjerg is not as crisp in possession as Winks nor as athletic in transition as Sissoko, he is arguably a better all-rounder than both.
Quite what Tanguy Ndombele’s situation is anybody’s guess. Ndombele’s relationship with Mourinho appears fractured beyond repair and if there is one major outgoing from Spurs this summer, it seems likely to be the club-record signing.
Clearly Hojbjerg would not represent a direct replacement for Ndombele given he lacks the ball-carrying and creative qualities that the Frenchman possesses. However, his reliability fitness-wise – he hasn’t missed a single game for Southampton through injury – is in stark contrast to Ndombele whose propensity to break down irked Mourinho.
“The objective is to improve the squad and that I’m totally convinced we’re going to manage,” said Mourinho after Sunday’s draw with Crystal Palace. Hojbjerg’s arrival is unlikely to stir up too much excitement amongst the club’s fanbase, but he could be exactly what Mourinho needs to mould Spurs in his own image.
How Tottenham could line up next season
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