The sight of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg being left on the bench for Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League opener against Brentford has one-time Arsenal striker Alan Smith wondering if the Dane is on borrowed time under Ange Postecoglou.
Amid all the furore surrounding Moises Caicedo’s British record £115 million move to Chelsea, it was another former Brighton midfielder who did his talking on the pitch over the weekend.
Yves Bissouma, 14 months on from his £25 million move from the Seagulls, offered a timely reminder as to why he was one of the most coveted playmakers anywhere in the Premier League not so long ago.
There were shades of Mousa Dembele about the way Bissouma ran the show in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Brentford; all shimmies and shakes, line-breaking passes and balletic control.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fighting for Tottenham Hotspur future
Bissouma’s inclusion in the starting XI came at the expense of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. One of the first names on the Spurs team-sheet during the eras of Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho – Nuno Espirito Santo too, don’t forget – one Sky Sports pundit wonders if Hojbjerg’s days as an almost guaranteed starter are numbered with a more proactive, attack-focused coach in the building these days.
“Bissouma is an interesting one. They need him back to his Brighton form,” Alan Smith, a two-time First Division champion with Arsenal, wonders.
“I don’t think Postecoglou is a huge fan of Hojbjerg, in terms of his style of football.”
The £15 million signing from Southampton – for all his discipline, leadership and aggression – lacks Bissouma’s elegance and natural ball-playing ability. It is telling that, north of the border at Celtic, Postecoglou’s first-choice deep-lying midfielder was Callum McGregor; a man who’s role was not to stop attacks but to start them, while setting the tone and controlling the rhythm.
Atletico Madrid keen
Hojbjerg, according to The Times, could still leave North London for Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish giants are making no secret of their desire to sign a defensive midfielder to line up alongside the long-serving Koke.
“We need a midfielder to share that spot with Koke and give that position more competition,” coach Diego Simeone admits. “The season is long, the characteristics of those we have around Koke are not pure midfielders.
“(Geoffrey) Kondogbia left (for Marseille). We see (Axel) Witsel more as a centre-back, although he can play as a midfielder. But we believe that we are going to compete better with the arrival of another midfielder. (One who) gives us personality, ability and internal competition.”
“The club will decide (who to sign).”
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