Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has become Southampton’s second signing of the summer.
The Danish international midfielder, 20, completed his $15 million move to Southampton from Bayern Munich on Monday and bolsters Saints’ midfielder options after they lost Victor Wanyama to Spurs earlier this summer.
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New Saints manager Claude Puel has only had just over a week of training with his new squad but the former Nice manager has a long history of working with talented youngsters and getting the best out of him.
Hojbjerg, already a full Danish international who has 15 caps to his name, will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Thierry Henry and Eden Hazard who flourished under Puel’s guidance.
Speaking to the club’s website, Hojbjerg revealed his desire to join the south coast club.
“I’m very pleased. It’s a big opportunity for me. I look forward to giving what I have and what I can to the club. They have put trust in me and I want to show them that they are not wrong,” Hojbjerg said. “When I heard that Southampton came in for me I said to my people that this is what I want to do because I can see myself at Southampton, as it’s the way I like to think, the way I like to play and it fits me really well. I hope I can come here also and be a part of the Southampton family and give what I have to fight for the club and fight for my teammates.”
Hojbjerg struggled to break into Pep Guardiola’s team but is highly thought of at Bayern and spent the last two seasons on loan at Augsburg and Schalke in the Bundesliga.
Some might think he’s a replacement for Wanyama but Hojbjerg is said to be much more influential in the attacking third of the pitch than Saints’ former Kenyan destroyer.
The Dane became the youngest-ever player to play for Bayern in the Bundesliga when he made his debut as a 17-year-old in 2013 but has found chances tough to come by in recent seasons with the likes of Xabi Alonso, Philipp Lahm and David Alaba around.
Southampton have sold three key players this summer — Graziano Pelle sealed his move to China on Monday, following Sadio Mane and Wanyama through the exit door st St Mary’s — but they have continued their process of replacing outgoing players with youngsters.
Hungry and eager to kick his career on, this seems like a good landing spot for Hojbjerg and Saints alike as they’ve also added promising English winger Nathan Redmond to replace Mane earlier this summer.
Saints do things a little differently to most PL clubs and although some pundits may be concerned about them selling Pelle, Mane and Wanyama, seven-straight seasons of finishing in a higher league position than the previous year shows that the St Mary’s club know what they’re doing.
For now.
