Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg speaks on lack of playing time at Tottenham after failed summer transfer
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Southampton in the summer of 2020 for a fee of £15million.
He has been a regular for every manager at Spurs since then. Hence, it has come as a surprise that he is seeing next to no meaningful playing time under Ange Postecoglou.
It was a situation hard to imagine under Antonio Conte, considering the Italian evidently considered the Denmark international to be one of the first names on the team sheet at the club.
Things have changed now. James Maddison’s arrival and Yves Bissouma’s return to form have pushed Hojbjerg out of the XI, with Postecoglou seemingly not favouring the 28-year-old.
What next for Hojbjerg?
Fulham wanted to hand him an escape route in the summer but the player refused to move to Craven Cottage. Speaking about his situation at Spurs to Ekstra Bladet (h/t Evening Standard):
“I haven’t played as much as I’ve been used to, but it’s also something you take with you and have to accept it and learn from.”
Hojbjerg isn’t as agile, fast, or quick on the turn as some of our other midfield options, including Bissouma. But he is still an able defensive midfielder who specialises in breaking up plays and winning the ball back for his team.
But that doesn’t seem to be enough for our Australian-Greek manager. He has handed him just 122 minutes of action in the Premier League across seven games this season, reducing him to a second-string player.
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The situation can only be worse for Hojbjerg after Rodrigo Bentancur’s long-awaited return from a knee injury this year. His contract expires in the summer of 2025 (Transfermarkt) and the best solution for Spurs could be to part ways and make some profit. He is still at a good age and is a highly experienced Premier League defensive midfielder.
