After four years in North London, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg is expected to depart Tottenham Hotspur and join Ligue 1 giants Olympique Marseille.
The deal is set to be an initial loan with an obligation to buy, although the overall package could reach £16.9m, meaning Daniel Levy will secure a healthy profit after he signed the Dane for a wicked bargain of just £3m with Kyle Walker-Peters heading the other way in a deal totalling £15m back in 2020.
With the midfielder, who has starred for both club and country in recent years, you knew exactly what you were getting. A tough-tackling midfielder with a 'never say die' mentality, he was a manager's dream in his early years at Spurs, and although his final eighteen months in North London weren't what he may have hoped for, he can certainly reflect positively on his time at the club.
The definition of underrated needs changing to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.
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Krigeren
Krigeren - meaning "The Warrior" in Danish - absolutely epitomises his spell at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In the four seasons he spent in N17, he was a regular figure on the pitch, missing only seven out of the 152 Premier League matches that Tottenham played during that time.
As we reflect on his likenesses to a warrior, allow your memory to drift back to January 2020, when Tottenham won 2-0 against Brentford in a Carabao Cup semi final. With 84 minutes on the clock, the Danish midfielder was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Josh Dasilva, who was sent off.
Jose Mourinho, who brought the former Southampton man to the club, could be heard shouting "It's a disgrace" from the sidelines, as Højbjerg remonstrated with his coach to let him stay on, despite a gaping gash on his shin after the horror tackle. Eventually, with some heavy persuasion, he was led down the tunnel to undergo treatment.
The fact that he was nearly always available, and selected so often, shows just how important he has been for The Lilywhites, and in this day and age, it is so rare to find a footballer capable of playing an entire season with no issues.
Even in his final season in N17, where he had fallen down the pecking order, he was used 36 times by Ange Postecoglou in the league and was ever-present in all three cup fixtures - yet another statement of his importance to the side.
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UEFA Champions League saviour
Football works in funny old ways! Just under two years ago, Tottenham faced Højbjerg's chosen new side Marseille, on match day six in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Spurs needed a win to secure top spot, whilst also facing the possibility of finishing bottom.
The English side went 1-0 down but a second half equaliser from Clement Lenglet had the game locked in a stalemate as we entered the final few seconds of added time. The leveller from the defender meant Spurs would go through if all results remained as they were, but it was only enough for a second place finish.
As the hosts pushed for a goal to keep their European football campaign alive, Tottenham broke. Harry Kane found Højbjerg and the rest is history. His superb finish, which crashed in off the inside of the post, sent the travelling supporters into delirium, as the North London side pinched top spot from right under Eintracht Frankfurt's noses.
Moments like those are what fans will cherish forever, and thanks to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Spurs fans will always remember that night in Marseille.
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Formidable midfield duo
During Antonio Conte's reign at the club, the Danish midfielder formed an incredible partnership with fellow midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who made the switch to North London in January 2022.
The pair were unbreakable throughout the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign, as Spurs stunned the rest of the league by pipping North London rivals Arsenal to the final Champions League spot. This form continued into the beginning of the next season, as the midfield powerhouses went from strength to strength.
Throughout the 2022/23 season, Højbjerg would hit five goals and five assists - an incredible feat for a supposed defensive midfielder.
Due to his slickness and composure on the ball, the duo complimented each other perfectly. The Uruguayan allowed Højbjerg to attack more often, arriving late to the edge of the box and playing in the deep-lying playmaker role, a position he had previously thrived in for his national team. It also brought around that iconic press from one of the two, which resulted in Harry Kane breaking the all-time Tottenham Hotspur goal record in February 2022.
Unfortunately, a horrific ACL injury to Bentancur later that month pretty much spelled the end of their partnership in the middle of the park, but it will not be forgotten by Spurs fans any time soon.
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Højbjerg bled for the badge
There's not many non-homegrown players who have cared so much about the badge on their chest than Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, in recent years.
When you consider that he was signed for under a quarter of the fee paid for Tanguy Ndombele, you absolutely cannot say a bad word about his Spurs career, as he nailed down that midfield spot as his own, for the majority.
Throughout his four-year career in North London he has made just shy of 200 appearances, scoring on ten occasions and directly creating sixteen goals for teammates. His input at both ends of the pitch has been crucial, and saw him become one of the first name's on the team sheet under all three of Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo and Antonio Conte.
Højbjerg fully grasped the meaning of playing for the badge, which he would have run through a brick wall to protect. Often, however, he was undeservedly scapegoated by fans, especially when performances were bleak.
His passion, desire and determination to help the club progress as far as possible has been second to none, and a fine example would be his final season in North London under Ange Postecoglou. Although he was mostly named amongst the substitutes, he delivered when called upon - most notably in home victories against Brentford and Nottingham Forest.
It will be sad to see Højbjerg depart North London this summer, especially knowing it will be extremity difficult for the Tottenham transfer hierarchy to find a player of similar calibre in the current market.
You cannot knock his dedication to the club, even during the bad times, both collectively and personally. What a great signing Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was, and I am sure many Spurs fans will be wishing him all the best at Marseille.
