Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou may well lose a "very determined" player of his in January, with an exit looking "likely".
Spurs players who could leave
The north Londoners are flying high right now, currently unbeaten over a run of seven wins from a possible nine Premier League games as they gear up to face Crystal Palace this evening. Star men Son Heung-min, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie, among others, have dazzled Spurs supporters with their form as the rejuvenated club hit new early-season heights.
However, despite many success stories, there are a few players who have struggled for chances during Postecoglou's reign. Indeed, both Pierre-Emile Hobjerg and Eric Dier, despite being regulars under Antonio Conte last term, are now less pivotal with the latter yet to even play a single minute this season and urged to leave. The former, who started his first league match of the season against Fulham on Monday, only came in due to Bissouma's suspension.
The Mali international will be eligible again after serving his one-match suspension, so it looks likely Hojbjerg will return to the bench barring any surprises. Postecoglou, speaking after their 2-0 win over Fulham, heaped praise on the Denmark international while insisting he remains integral.
“I don’t think there was any time during the transfer window where I thought Pierre would move,” Postecoglou said to the press..
“The discussions I had with him were that he was here and wanted to contribute, he wanted to be part of what we were building. It is obvious someone that has played regularly would have wanted to play more but ultimately our performances have been strong and he has had to bide his time. He has also been very important in a lot of the games that we’ve won late or had to shore up late. He has been one of the people who has helped us and it is not like he hasn’t contributed at all. He’s been a really important part for us."
Hojbjerg exit looking likely
Despite Postecoglou's latest comments on Hojbjerg, it appears his departure is a very likely scenario in the January transfer window. The former Southampton star is apparently "open" to leaving Spurs mid-season, and journalist Paul Brown says that it's "quite likely" Hojbjerg "will leave".
"Yeah, I think it's quite likely that Hojbjerg will leave," said the former Daily Star reporter to GiveMeSport.
"The problem for him is that Spurs want a permanent deal, whereas most of the clubs who are interested in him are only willing to do a loan. Spurs still think he's worth £30m or more and I don't think there's a club out there that will pay that for him, certainly not in January. It's clear, he'd be open to a move, and he knows he's not going to get a lot of minutes from the manager at Spurs. So it might be in everyone's interest to work out some kind of compromise here really."
According to recent reports, one destination could be Italy, as Juventus are interested in signing Hojbjerg.
