Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg given stern warning by Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl amid Tottenham links

Matt Davies4 June 2020

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has issued a stern warning to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, insisting he won't remain captain without signing a contract extension.

Hojbjerg is moving into the final year of his contract, with Premier League duo Tottenham and Everton reportedly interested in the midfielder.

The 24-year-old is yet to dismiss any speculation regarding a move away from Southampton, rather admitting he was flattered by the links to Tottenham.

And Hasenhuttl - who signed a four-year contract extension with Southampton on Tuesday - insists the situation must be quickly resolved for the sake of the team.

“It’s not good for him and I don’t think the situation would be good for him,” Saints’ boss told BBC Radio Solent.

“As a captain, you cannot lead a team without extending your contract. This is always difficult.

In Pictures | Tottenham resume contact training | 28/05/2020

1/70

“We must look at what we have. I think we should avoid letting players go without a transfer fee. This is what we should avoid.

“It’s not good to go into the last year of your contract – especially as a young player with a big future.

“This is not the ideal situation, but we have opportunities to handle it and we will have talks with other players and find a decision.”

Hojbjerg has been an ever-present in the Saints midfield this season, playing in 28 of their 29 Premier League matches.

And with Tottenham lacking a defensive midfielder following Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama's departures - alongside Eric Dier's dip in form - it's clear to see why Hasenhuttl would want a swift resolution.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in