Tottenham ‘Confident’ of Signing Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Tottenham are confident of landing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | Robin Jones/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur are pushing forward with a move to sign Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and are understood to be confident of getting a deal over the line.

The Dane has been near the top of Spurs’ wish list since January, when rumours of a failed bid on deadline day began to surface – and José Mourinho remains determined to add Højbjerg to his squad this summer.

Pierre-Emile HojbjergPierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Hojbjerg would be open to joining Spurs | Robin Jones/Getty Images

The Telegraph note that Højbjerg sees Spurs as his preferred landing spot once the transfer window opens, giving Mourinho confidence that a deal can be struck, but the problem is the cost of any deal.

Despite the fact he has just 12 months remaining on his contract, Southampton value Højbjerg at close to the £35m and Mourinho has been told that he can only afford such a deal if he raises the money by selling some of his current squad.

Defenders Juan Foyth and Danny Rose are both named as likely casualties, while right-back Kyle Walker-Peters could also be allowed to make his loan at St Mary’s Stadium permanent. But one other way to raise that money would be to part ways with record signing Tanguy Ndombele.

Tanguy NdombeleTanguy Ndombele
Tanguy Ndombele has clashed with Jose Mourinho | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Reports first emerged in April suggesting Ndombele had grown tired of working with Mourinho and was ready to leave Spurs after just one year, and that’s an angle which has been taken by plenty of recent stories as well.

Téléfoot revealed last week that Ndombele had specifically confronted Mourinho to inform him of his wish to leave, and Ndombele’s failure to see any minutes since football’s return certainly won’t have helped the situation.

Jose MourinhoJose Mourinho
Mourinho is yet to play Ndombele since football returned | Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is adamant that the Frenchman won’t be sold, but the chance to cash in on a valuable asset who won’t feature heavily in the team may be too good to turn down.

Mourinho is also pushing to sign a new right-back, with Atalanta’s Timothy Castagne on his radar, so selling Ndombele might be the best way to raise the required money.

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