You know, after yesterday’s Tanguy Ndombele news, the thing I thought this blog needed was more DISCOURSE, because there isn’t enough apparently-divisive stuff to talk about #onhere. So here’s something! According to the Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel, Tottenham Hotspur have opened negotiations for the transfer of Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Atletico Madrid open talks with Tottenham over move for Pierre Emile-Hojberg. Player fully open to opportunity to join La Liga club. https://t.co/u43YDP3qDG
— Sami Mokbel (@SamiMokbel81_DM) July 6, 2023
First, I’m going to say it again — we don’t like the Daily Mail in these here parts, but Mokbel is a known solid source and generally worth listening to when he has an exclusive, even if his transfer track record isn’t 100% (nobody’s is). And this actually tracks with some of the early rumors about Pierre over the past few weeks.
The scuttlebutt has been that Spurs are open to offers for Hojbjerg as he’s considered a salable asset and perhaps not a perfect fit for what Ange Postecoglou wants in his midfield. Mockbel says Hojbjerg is open to playing in Spain primarily because he wants to continue to play Champions League football, something that Spurs obviously can’t offer. Hojbjerg is also apparently attracting interest from at least one unnamed club in Germany.
“Opening negotiations” doesn’t mean that a move is imminent, obviously. We don’t really know what it would take for Spurs to sell Pierre, just that he’s apparently okay with the idea of leaving. But it does make sense. Spurs are stacked at midfield and there are strong hints already that Postecoglou is planning on playing a 4-3-3 this season at Spurs. With James Maddison now signed, there are too many CMs and too few minutes for things to stay the way they are. Selling Hojbjerg obviously isn’t a sure thing, but it absolutely feels a lot more plausible than it did a couple of weeks ago.
