Alex McLeish has claimed that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is not a top-level midfielder and expects Tottenham to sell him this summer.
Hojbjerg, 26, has been a fixture in the Spurs fold since joining the club from Southampton in August 2020, amassing 87 appearances in the process (Transfermarkt).
The Denmark international has started all but one Premier League game this term, with Antonio Conte electing to drop him to the bench for Tottenham’s defeat to Wolves earlier this month.
The decision meant it was the first time Hojbjerg failed to start a league game for Spurs coming as a result of a handful of subpar displays in recent weeks.
McLeish has been left disappointed with his showings this season and feels Spurs could look to cash in on him this summer, naming Serie A as an ideal destination for him.
Asked if he could see Spurs offloading the midfielder, he told Football Insider: “I could, yeah. I don’t see him as top level.
“When you’re at a smaller club you’re a real standout. At Southampton, he did some sterling work there. Then at Spurs for a while, I thought this guy’s pretty imperial
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“But then you see teams exploit weaknesses of players and then you think he’s not the player that I thought was at the top level.
“You can see him being in an Italian team, with the way the Italians play the game. It’s not the fast, speedy attack you see in England, it’s more a slow buildup. I could see him in that system.
“I’ve seen some flaws in his Spurs days. Dropping back into the box when he should be coming out as a midfielder. There are things you know the real top players would do better than that.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Hojbjerg has shown mixed displays this season. On some days he looks like the enforcer Spurs brought him in for and in others, the game just bypasses him and his midfield partner.
He does seem limited in what he can do, but realistically Spurs likely won’t entertain a sale unless an extremely tempting offer for him comes their way.
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