Hojbjerg: Official - Signs for Spurs

[Saint_Tony]

Is this going to be a Fonte situation where he eventi eventually only has West Ham as a choice 🤣

[aintforever]

KWP has looked a decent player since the restart, I would take him plus £5mill.

[Red]

5 hours ago, austsaint said:

Would that be such a bad deal?   I think of Matt Targett fetching 13m a year ago - and KWP looks every inch a 15m player.     That effectively would mean Spurs have stumped up 20m for Hojbjerg with less than 12 months remaining on his contract.

Agree.

But why don't we tell Levy to do one! Either accept this as the final offer with 48 hours or crawl back under your rock. He's not a great business man - just a north London barrow boy - stump up on what a cracking deal for them or leave the game. He could end up messing up our entire transfer plans with his games.

Tel Hoi - get Spurs to show they really want you, or accept the Everton (or indeed one of the alleged Euro offers) or spend the next year in the under 23's side - yes I realise we would lose him on a free but you need to make a stand or every other player will employ the same tactic.

I can see us agreeing to 15m or less on the final day and no time to get alternatives otherwise (how long will Weston wait for us?). Show some balls Saints - otherwise utterly pointless in stripping him of the captaincy and leaving him out of the team etc. 

[Baird of the land]

I do wonder if we’ll end up mixing the 2 transfers to muddle the end pr sale price. It makes sense not to if there’s a bidding war but if in reality it’s only spurs he’ll go to.

[East Kent Saint]

From what we have seen of Levy in the past he seems to want to squeeze the last drop out of each deal , drag a negotiation out until the other side give up or take what's on offer . Don't expect a quick deal from Spurs !!!!

[Tom & Gerry]

Surprised he wants to go to a club who rate him so lowly. £15 m players are bench warmers at best at a top club.

[WALK DMC]

12 minutes ago, Tom & Gerry said:

Surprised he wants to go to a club who rate him so lowly. £15 m players are bench warmers at best at a top club.

He is only £15m because he has a year left on his contract and is reportedly refusing to go to other clubs who would offer more. He'd have fetched £30m+ if he had 2 years+ left on his contract and in a bidding competition with 2+ clubs.

Spurs want him, they just want to pay the lowest amount possible. And they probably will if Hojbjerg is on their side in this transaction.

[Lighthouse]

3 minutes ago, WALK DMC said:

He is only £15m because he has a year left on his contract and is reportedly refusing to go to other clubs who would offer more. He'd have fetched £30m+ if he had 2 years+ left on his contract and in a bidding competition with 2+ clubs.

Spurs want him, they just want to pay the lowest amount possible. And they probably will if Hojbjerg is on their side in this transaction.

Hojbjerg is on Hojbjerg’s side. He won’t be impressed with Spurs if the deal falls through because they’re pushing for an unrealistically low price.

[WALK DMC]

8 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Hojbjerg is on Hojbjerg’s side. He won’t be impressed with Spurs if the deal falls through because they’re pushing for an unrealistically low price.

At the moment there is nothing to suggest that the deal won't go through, but it will probably be closer to Spurs terms than ours and that is largely due to Hojbjerg insisting on joining in Spurs and rejecting all other options.

It looks as though the only way a deal won't be done is if Saints genuinely play hard ball and reject all Spurs' offers until Jan or allow him to leave for nothing next year. I personally don't see that happening - money talks and I can't see our CEO wanting to explain to Mr Gao why they've effectively lost a £15m asset for nothing. 

I'm annoyed with the situation as I don't like losing somebody cheap to Spurs, but unless Hojbjerg changes his stance and agrees to consider other teams, we're knackered. 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, WALK DMC said:

At the moment there is nothing to suggest that the deal won't go through, but it will probably be closer to Spurs terms than ours and that is largely due to Hojbjerg insisting on joining in Spurs and rejecting all other options.

It looks as though the only way a deal won't be done is if Saints genuinely play hard ball and reject all Spurs' offers until Jan or allow him to leave for nothing next year. I personally don't see that happening - money talks and I can't see our CEO wanting to explain to Mr Gao why they've effectively lost a £15m asset for nothing. 

I'm annoyed with the situation as I don't like losing somebody cheap to Spurs, but unless Hojbjerg changes his stance and agrees to consider other teams, we're knackered. 

Yep exactly, we aren’t in a strong position. The player wants to leave, he only want to go to one club and if we don’t sell him he can walk away for nothing in 12 months time plus we need him gone to crack on with our own plans, Levy will know this.  There is no reason for Spurs to match Everton’s bid, simply try and do a deal for the best price they can get him for. The longer it goes on the weaker our position is. It’s a similar situation with the dead wood we want to shift, we’re in an extremely weak position with them as well. It’s a case with all of them of taking what we can get. All this talk of playing hardball with Levy or make him rot with the kids is laughable nonsense. 

[OldNick]

If he says he's not going to another club then we are screwed, no doubt his agent has put this strategy in place and Spurs will be paying the extra to his agent and Hoj as a signing on fee.

To a degree this is what happened with VVD as he was determined to go to Liverpool and so no others jumped in

[SFC Forever]

out of curiosity how much is KWP likely to cost and can we lower the the price we have to pay?

[cambsaint]

KWP is a young English player with potential.

I'd be glad to see a straight swap for a player with probably only a few years left and who we have covered by Romeu anyway, if that is what it took.

If KWP proves his potential then in a few years a mega-club will come knocking and we'll make a massive profit.

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, cambsaint said:

KWP is a young English player with potential.

I'd be glad to see a straight swap for a player with probably only a few years left and who we have covered by Romeu anyway, if that is what it took.

If KWP proves his potential then in a few years a mega-club will come knocking and we'll make a massive profit.

KWP is about a year younger isn’t he?

[waylander]

8 hours ago, cambsaint said:

KWP is a young English player with potential.

I'd be glad to see a straight swap for a player with probably only a few years left and who we have covered by Romeu anyway, if that is what it took.

If KWP proves his potential then in a few years a mega-club will come knocking and we'll make a massive profit.

PEH is 24 y.o.

[HKsaint]

It appears that Levy insists on a significant lower transfer fee as PEH refused to join any club other than Spur.

Is it legal for PEH to get a secret profit in term of percentage from Levy on any difference between transfer fee agreed by Spur and  £25 agreed by Everton? 

[egg]

On 01/08/2020 at 23:06, cambsaint said:

KWP is a young English player with potential.

I'd be glad to see a straight swap for a player with probably only a few years left and who we have covered by Romeu anyway, if that is what it took.

If KWP proves his potential then in a few years a mega-club will come knocking and we'll make a massive profit.

Given PEH short contract I'd take a swap too. We aren't in the driving seat here. 

[Matthew Le God]

On 01/08/2020 at 23:06, cambsaint said:

I'd be glad to see a straight swap for a player with probably only a few years left and who we have covered by Romeu anyway, if that is what it took.

I'm intrigued to know how old you thought Hojbjerg is if you think he "probably only has a few years left"?

Hojbjerg is only 24 years old! 😁

He also isn't really "covered by Romeu". Romeu is fine as a backup option, but I doubt Hasenhuttl will view him as a first choice player. A replacement will be needed, either with Harrison Reed joining the first team or a new signing like the rumoured target Weston McKennie.

[Give it to Ron]

4 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I'm intrigued to know how old you thought Hojbjerg is if you think he "probably only has a few years left"?

Hojbjerg is only 24 years old! 😁

He also isn't really "covered by Romeu". Romeu is fine as a backup option, but I doubt Hasenhuttl will view him as a first choice player. A replacement will be needed, either with Harrison Reed joining the first team or a new signing like the rumoured target Weston McKennie.

Maybe you should watch the games Romeu was one of our better players since restart. 
“Backup option” lol

[Matthew Le God]

9 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Maybe you should watch the games Romeu was one of our better players since restart. 
“Backup option” lol

So you'd be happy with him first choice and no replacement signed (if Reed isn't used)? Yes he is a 'back up option' as he has been for most of his time at the club. Even this season he is below Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg in the pecking order.

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Matthew Le God

[DT]

KWP might want to go to West Ham though

[Give it to Ron]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

So you'd be happy with him first choice and no replacement signed (if Reed isn't used)? Yes, 'back up option' as he has been for most of his time at the club. Even this season he is below Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg in the pecking order.

Where did I say that? Stop making things up in your head. 
Do you agree he has been one of our best players or not?

JWP has been stand out player hardly surprising Romeu behind him is it and Hojberg was captain have a think

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Give it to Ron
Clarify

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Where did I say that? Stop making things up in your head. 
Do you agree he has been one of our best players or not?

Romeu has been fine filling in. Wouldn't say he was one of the best performers since the restart and certainly not 'one of our best players'. In 2019/20 season he was below Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg in the pecking order. Hence calling him... 'back-up'.

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Matthew Le God

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

Romeu has been fine filling in. Wouldn't say he was one of the best performers since the restart and certainly not 'one of our best players'. In 2019/20 season he was below Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg in the pecking order. Hence calling him... 'back-up'.

He has been pivotal in our games since the return, filling in a role that Hoj isn't able to do. He looks fitter and more mobile than he did, maybe this is what he was lacking prior lockdown.

I certainly wouldn't class him as our backup at the moment though, one of our first names given the role and job he fulfils.

[Matthew Le God]

6 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

JWP has been stand out player hardly surprising Romeu behind him is it and Hojberg was captain have a think

All that does is support my point that he was below both of them in the pecking order for the two central midfield roles. Hence... 'back-up'. Romeu is the 3rd choice for those two roles.... 3rd choice = back-up 

[DT]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

All that does is support my point that he was below both of them in the pecking order for the two central midfield roles. Hence... 'back-up'. Romeu is the 3rd choice for those two roles.... 3rd choice = back-up 

Personally would pick him ahead of Hojberg, certainly since his 'head was turned' (along with his playing style)

[Dusic]

12 minutes ago, LeG said:

We need to sell Hojbjerg to the highest bidder and get as much up front as possible. We can also level the playing field by getting KWP to tell DL that he wants to go to Southampton and no one else. They need the money just as much as we do.

Wishful thinking re Hojbjerg, we cannot sell him to a club he doesn't want to join. The other clubs are irrelevant, he will go to Spurs because he wants to.

He can go for free in less than a year so Sainta not in a strong position and eventually will take what they can.

[Give it to Ron]

7 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

All that does is support my point that he was below both of them in the pecking order for the two central midfield roles. Hence... 'back-up'. Romeu is the 3rd choice for those two roles.... 3rd choice = back-up 

Your having a mare on this.... did he start games this season or not?

You haven’t answered the question since restart? which proves my point thank you.

This thread is about Hojberg so will stop there thanks you brightened my morning I’ll say another prayer for you 

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Give it to Ron
Xx

[Matthew Le God]

5 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Your having a mare on this.... did he start games this season or not?

You haven’t answered the question which proves my point thank you.

Romeu starting games this season is irrelevant to him being a back-up. Back-ups start games when the Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg aren't available.

3rd choice players = back up players. Romeu this season was 3rd choice for the two roles. That does not mean he wouldn't start games. 

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Matthew Le God

[S-Clarke]

Can someone please do us all a massive favour and ban MLG? Or at least remove his sub?

Absolute pedantic WUM.

[Matthew Le God]

8 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Can someone please do us all a massive favour and ban MLG? Or at least remove his sub?

If you are that bothered... you can add me to your ignored users list.

https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/ignore/

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Matthew Le God

[Give it to Ron]

20 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Romeu starting games this season is irrelevant to him being a back-up. Back-ups start games when the Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg aren't available.

3rd choice players = back up players. Romeu this season was 3rd choice for the two roles. That does not mean he wouldn't start games. 

Was Hojberg unavailable.. no so your wrong and still didn’t answer question.

Thanks for link I would rather pray for you than block

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Was Hojberg unavailable.. no so your wrong and still didn’t answer question.

He was effectively unavailable due to the transfer situation, so was replaced with the 3rd choice central midfielder. Which question do you think I haven't answered?

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Matthew Le God

[SNSUN]

I wouldn't use the term back-up, more "squad player", it's less harsh. It's a long season, all our senior players will get game time at some point and may even become first choice at some point. Maybe we sign McKennie and he's not good enough, Romeu would be first choice.

I do agree that I wouldn't have Romeu as first choice for the 2 positions though, to start the season. Hojbjerg does need replacing, either with another signing or, if Ralph thinks he's now good enough, Reed.

I hate it when we do business with Levy, it always seems to drag on. Everton have genuine Champions League aspirations (hence the managerial appointment) so I'm surprised Hojbjerg is digging his heels in so much to join non-Champions League team Spurs. Maybe commutable distance from home has something to do with it. Personally I think if we didn't want (or need) KWP, we'd have the upper hand, but maybe that's why we've leaked rumours of Matty Cash. 

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, SNSUN said:

Everton have genuine Champions League aspirations (hence the managerial appointment) so I'm surprised Hojbjerg is digging his heels in so much to join non-Champions League team Spurs. 

They have a monumental task turning their squad into Champions League challengers. They have already wasted hundreds of millions on players and still finished below Hojbjerg's current team in 2019/20.

[Chewy]

I never expected to say this, but with MLGs recent form and insistence on ruining every thread I’m almost missing Glasgow.

[ErwinK1961]

34 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Can someone please do us all a massive favour and ban MLG? Or at least remove his sub?

Absolute pedantic WUM.

Imagine being taught by him? Unreal.

Stick him on the blocked list mate, your life will instantly improve.

[darren2]

42 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

If you are that bothered... you can add me to your ignored users list.

https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/ignore/

Who said that?

[SuperSAINT]

A small snippet from The Athletic on PEH:

Dropped from the squad for the final game of the 2019-20 season and, according to The Athletic sources, absent from their end of season party, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will be leaving Southampton this summer.

Didnt realise he wasn’t involved in the end of season party.

Edited 3 August, 2020 by SuperSAINT

[SuperSAINT]

1 minute ago, darren2 said:

Who said that?

😂

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

Unbelievable that Saints fans are advocating that Saints just roll over and allow ourselves to give in to Spurs demands. Indeed some even seem to have decided we should accept even worse terms than are currently being offered!

Having said that I do find myself wondering if there might be the odd Spuds fan contributing to the discussions here! I just don't get that Saints' fans are going along with their suggestions.

Let's be clear - if Spuds don't want to up their offer to an acceptable level we do not have to sell to them. If they don't want to pay that much they can look elsewhere to sign a cheaper player. Once they do and Hojbjerg realises that Spuds don't want him we can look to sell him to Everton... if in the meantime they have not looked elsewhere.

Of course, we all want this sorted sooner so we can get on with signing other players, but simply selling Hojbjerg on the cheap is not going to help that either. After all, we need money to buy those players and selling him on the cheap won't provide that money (albeit we may be able to arrange to pay by using credit terms and paying in instalments).

If both Everton & Spurs look elsewhere he has two other choices - sign a new contract and knuckle down to playing for Saints or accept an offer from a foreign club if they are still interested. In my opinion, Hojbjerg himself also has an interest in encouraging Spurs (through his agent) to accept Saints' terms.

[WALK DMC]

28 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

I wouldn't use the term back-up, more "squad player", it's less harsh. It's a long season, all our senior players will get game time at some point and may even become first choice at some point. Maybe we sign McKennie and he's not good enough, Romeu would be first choice.

I do agree that I wouldn't have Romeu as first choice for the 2 positions though, to start the season. Hojbjerg does need replacing, either with another signing or, if Ralph thinks he's now good enough, Reed.

I hate it when we do business with Levy, it always seems to drag on. Everton have genuine Champions League aspirations (hence the managerial appointment) so I'm surprised Hojbjerg is digging his heels in so much to join non-Champions League team Spurs. Maybe commutable distance from home has something to do with it. Personally I think if we didn't want (or need) KWP, we'd have the upper hand, but maybe that's why we've leaked rumours of Matty Cash. 

Very good summary and diplomatic terminology 🙂      I think this sums it up well. 

Romeu's contract is up next summer. He is 28 years old, so would be worth a decent amount to Saints. Regardless of his good performances in the last few months, Saints will want to generate some cash if he decides not to sign an extension. I suspect that he'll sign an extension, but nothing is certain and maybe he is fed up being a "back-up" (sorry, "squad player") and wants to return to Spain. In which case, we could be looking for replacements for both Hojberg & Romeu (Reed +1 ) ?       Anyone have any news on his contract extension situation ? 

[SFC Forever]

The way I see it until Hojberg went awol mentally him and JWP were first choice with Romeu next in line. Romeu has done fairly well since restart but that does not alter the fact that he was third in pecking order until Ralph started him in Hojberg's place due to the situation re Spurs etc.

[angelman]

I don't want to come across as being one of those who says that a player is sh*t when he leaves for another team, because I don't think PEH is. But I don't quite get the huge enthusiasm that Spurs supporters have in signing him. Am I wrong? Is PEH a brilliant player? We all know how he plays, but I am wondering whether I am missing something and under estimating his impact?

I was listening to talkSport yesterday, where a couple of the people there said that he was our best player last season (after Ings) with Alex Crook (I think it was him) saying that he thought that he'd actually been pretty poor. 

[iansums]

2 minutes ago, angelman said:

I don't want to come across as being one of those who says that a player is sh*t when he leaves for another team, because I don't think PEH is. But I don't quite get the huge enthusiasm that Spurs supporters have in signing him. Am I wrong? Is PEH a brilliant player? We all know how he plays, but I am wondering whether I am missing something and under estimating his impact?

I was listening to talkSport yesterday, where a couple of the people there said that he was our best player last season (after Ings) with Alex Crook (I think it was him) saying that he thought that he'd actually been pretty poor. 

You're not wrong, this is why most of us are fairly happy to see him leave.

[S-Clarke]

8 minutes ago, angelman said:

I don't want to come across as being one of those who says that a player is sh*t when he leaves for another team, because I don't think PEH is. But I don't quite get the huge enthusiasm that Spurs supporters have in signing him. Am I wrong? Is PEH a brilliant player? We all know how he plays, but I am wondering whether I am missing something and under estimating his impact?

I was listening to talkSport yesterday, where a couple of the people there said that he was our best player last season (after Ings) with Alex Crook (I think it was him) saying that he thought that he'd actually been pretty poor. 

You're not wrong, I've never really rated him that highly to be honest. He's what I'd call a bog standard mid-table PL midfielder, no more than that.

I just feel he lacks that real 'star' quality that other 'defectors' have had. I don't rate him as high as Morgan for example, not even as close to being as technical or mobile as him, and Morgan struggled at Utd and Everton.

I think Spurs already have better players than him, that's why I'm curious as to their hunt for him. Lo Celso, Winks, Nndomble, Sissoko, Gedson Fernandes - all seem to offer what PEH does, but slightly better technically.

I don't think we're missing anything, I just don't think he's half as good as the media make him out to be. 

[saintwbu]

I am convinced his reputation is significantly enhanced by how ‘passionate’ he appears from all the air punching, and his post match interviews being interesting at times.

For me he appears to have graduated from the Alexis Sanchez school of pretending you care more than anyone so people ignore the fact you let runners jog past you and give you an easy ride when you continuously give the ball away. Can see why some find it endearing but for me it’s just really grating. He missed 10 games by suspension in 2018/19 if I remember rightly, which is insane, but people credited it as ‘passion’ when it was just fucking stupid and let his teammates down. 

[Alanh]

He's a moneyball signing.  His stats for defensive work like ball recovery and tackles in opposition half are up there with the best in the league.  He's got great credentials in terms of what he does when his side don't have the ball, but we know that he isn't the best in terms of ceativity or using the ball when he has it.  If a manager believes that his side needs to improve on the defensive side then PEH is a good option.  I think that's why he massively appeals to Everton, who need to be better in that area.  I guess for Spurs he is a replacement for the likes of Dier (now that he is a centre back) and Wanyama, although I still think Sissoko does the job better for them than PEH would.

Edited 3 August, 2020 by Alanh
Typos

[beatlesaint]

A Spurs supporting mate of mine told me "he's bound to be better than we've got otherwise we wouldnt sign him"

I'm leaving him to find out how true that may or may not be.  

[Hairlesshero]

3 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

So you'd be happy with him first choice and no replacement signed (if Reed isn't used)? Yes he is a 'back up option' as he has been for most of his time at the club. Even this season he is below Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg in the pecking order.

 

3 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

Maybe you should watch the games Romeu was one of our better players since restart. 
“Backup option” lol

Romeu was a deserved Player of the Season not so long ago. Starting regularly makes a big difference