Christmas came early for Jose Mourinho after he finally got what he wanted all along.
Tottenham Hotspur signed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton for a reported fee of around £17m on Tuesday.
For years Spurs have been accused of having a soft under-belly and being “too nice” after Mourinho lamented the lack of “aggression or ruthlessness” when their Champions League hopes were dealt a huge blow in defeat by Wolves on home soil last season.
Standing at 1.85m (6 ft 2), Hojbjerg is an enforcer who does not shy away from launching himself into a crunching tackle (or two).
According to The Athletic, as per @TranSPURS, the 33-cap Denmark international attracted attention from Ajax, Everton and Monaco, but the midfielder wanted to move to Spurs and work with Mourinho despite being offered higher wages elsewhere.
The 25-year-old scored five goals and supplied six assists in more than 100 appearances for the Saints after arriving from Bayern Munich for £12.8m in 2016.
Mauricio Pochettino put his faith in his philosophy to play an exciting brand of football at Tottenham, but the ability to play ugly is a dark art that shouldn’t be ignored anymore.
Hojbjerg is someone who can do precisely just that. The box-to-box destroyer topped the charts for recovering the ball 326 times for Southampton last term.
In stark contrast to Spurs’ record signing Tanguy Ndombele, the Danish midfielder could make an immediate impact by doing all the dirty work that often goes unnoticed. Once tipped as Sergio Busquets’ successor during his time at Bayern Munich, Hojbjerg has the tenacity to hit the ground running and is a player who pays close attention to positional awareness.
At £17m, he may turn out to be the bargain deal of the summer, and he could be a regular starter for the next decade.
Tottenham fans, do you think Hojbjerg will prove to be a good signing for Spurs? Let us know your views in the comments below!
