Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg signs for Spurs and Walker-Peters leaves
Well, we've done it, our first signing of the
Transfer Window (and surprisingly early for Levy)… well, not actually true, as
we had signed the youngster Alfie
Devine a week or so back. Anyway, we've signed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg,
and Kyle Walker-Peters went the other way (to Southampton). We do wish Kyle
good luck, unless he faces us…
Hojbjerg is 25 and has moved for a fee just
short of Southampton's £25m asking price, however, this was well more than our
£15m opening offer. But then again, opening offers are precisely that, to test
the water.
Kyle Walker-Peters, 23, has made a reported £12m
move to St Mary's after initially joining on loan in January. According to some
sources he wasn't up to Mourinho's standards, and it was thought that it was
better to let him go, and go he has. Both players have signed five-year
contracts.
Our new signing has made 134 appearances and
scored five goals since signing for Southampton from Bayern Munich for £12.8m
in 2016.
In 2019/20 season he was stripped of the club
captaincy for refusing to sign an extended contract, thus was sidelined for
much of that season. Obviously, Southampton couldn't force him to sign so had
an all-mighty strop and threw their toys out of the pram. Their loss is our
gain… hopefully!
Everton tried to slip in and purchase him, but
it was Tottenham he wanted to go to, not an also-ran. The Denmark international
knew that if he wanted to win all that glittered, it would be with the legendary
Mourinho, who had Trophies written all over his face, so he jumped in the right
direction.
As for Walker-Peters, well, he was part of the
England under-20 side that won their age-grade World Cup in 2017. He leaves
making 24 first-team appearances.
Pierre-Emile said upon signing, "I'm very
proud, very happy, I'm also very excited to be here – I just want to get going,
meet everyone and play football," he smiled after putting pen to paper,
then continued with "From the first moment I got to speak to the people at
the club, the coach, I think it was very clear to me that Spurs is a very big
club but also a club with even more potential to reach the ultimate, and I
wanted so much to be a part of that. I think there is a fantastic future ahead
for the club and hopefully for me as well."
He then added, "I think Spurs have
fantastic players, a fantastic manager, a fantastic set-up and I feel lucky and
proud to be a part of it," he said. "I want to give my everything but
I also want to learn a lot. I want to be better and what was very important for
me is that I wanted to play at a club where I could see myself for many years –
and Tottenham was just the one. So I'm very happy and proud to be here. The
leaders and the players that we have… world-class. And the coach also…
world-class. So again, to learn from them, to play with them and to see how
they behave, it's a dream, but it's also something that you have to learn from
and get excited about – and I am, a lot!"
So, a very happy bunny. But what else do we know
about him?
His personal life: Højbjerg was born in
Copenhagen, that is in Denmark, but grew up in the Østerbro district of the
city. He is the second of three children. He started playing football when he
was five-years-old. In April 2014, sadly, his father died of stomach cancer. He
currently resides in Winchester and receives regular visits from Josephine, his
girlfriend, who currently studies and lives in Denmark. Once she has passed her
exams, she is hoping to move to England and be with Pierre-Emile.
In the earlier days, he played for, as a youth,
BK Skjold, F.C. Copenhagen and Brøndby IF before joining German club Bayern
Munich in 2012. Once there he made his senior debut for the reserves that
year—his professional debut for the first team in April 2013. At the ripe old
age of 17, he was the club's youngest player in the Bundesliga. For that club,
he made 25 total appearances for Bayern and won many domestic and international
tournaments. He also had loans at FC Augsburg and Schalke 04. Then in 2016 he
came to England and signed a five-year contract for the Saints. So that is his
club-record up to date.
His International
record:
010–2011 Denmark U16 6 (0)
2011–2012 Denmark U17 18 (5)
2012–2013 Denmark U19 6 (3)
2013–2015 Denmark U21 8 (4)
2014– Denmark 33 (3)
So, there you have it. Will he be one part of
Mourinho's many cogs in creating a team that can challenge for honours? We
still need other players to be added, but we are hopefully on the right path.
As I have said before, we have the nucleus of a good team. Mourinho is
experienced enough to know what he wants and who will fit in and where.
Best Regards,
Glenn
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