Tottenham Hotspur have announced the signing of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg from Southampton, for a reported fee of £17 million. 

The 25-year-old central midfielder joins on a five-year deal and becomes Spurs' first signing of the summer.

Kyle Walker-Peters, who is an academy graduate, has moved the other way in a separate deal worth £12 million. 

PLAYER PROFILE

The Dane was a breakthrough talent at Bayern Munich, a player Pep Guardiola wanted to develop and believed had a high ceiling when he was coaching the German giants.

At 17, he became the youngest every play to play for Bayern. After two loans at FC Augsburg and Schalke, he jumped ship to Southampton for £12.5 million and has gone on to play over 100 games for the Saints. 

The 25-year-old has also been capped 33 times for Denmark and was also made Southampton’s captain in late 2018, despite being stripped of this in June after expressing his desire to leave. 

What does he bring?

Spurs have long needed a defensively solid midfielder who can win the ball back, control the midfield, protect the backline, start counter-attacks and give the talented Tanguy Ndombele the protection and freedom he needs to excel in his game. 

Højbjerg could well be this player.

He has many redeeming qualities that should make the Spurs faithful excited to watch the midfielder in action.

He’s elegant on the ball, able to receive the ball in pockets of space in front of the defence on the turn. 

He takes touches into space and is a calm influence in midfield. At times for Southampton, he’ll also cover for the right-back pushing forwards and make a back three in the build-up which could suit Spurs very well. 

He steps forward a lot more and likes to press out. He has mainly been played in a midfield two, often with James Ward-Prowse or Oriol Romeu.

In the midblock, he is vocal and a good leader in midfield. He organises his teammates around and shows himself as an intelligent player.

His Premier League experience, mixed with someone who is a leader, makes this signing an exciting one, so time will tell but the signs are positive that he will have a successful time in North London. 

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