Boost for Tottenham in Hojbjerg hunt as Southampton boss Hasenhuttl admits he’s scared of losing best players

Wanted: Hojbjerg in action against Tottenham
AFP via Getty Images
Richard Parry16 July 2020

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl admits he is ‘scared’ his best players could leave this summer, as Tottenham maintain interest in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The Denmark international has said he will not sign a new contract, leading Southampton to strip him of the captaincy, with Standard Sport understanding that the 24-year-old wants to join Tottenham .

Saints have had a strong second half of the season and are comfortably in mid-table with three games of the campaign left to play.

But despite their impressive form, Hasenhuttl concedes that losing your best players is part of the fabric of being Southampton manager.

"I'm always scared that players playing well in our team are interesting for others," he said.

"But this is our situation we have to live with. It's normal for us. We are a developing club. We develop players who are young but we also develop players who are a little bit older.

"If they then outperform and another club comes and says, 'He's interesting for us', then we cannot stop them going. This is normal for us.

"The players know what they have with us. If a big club comes and wants to sign them, even if he has a (long) contract we have no chance to compete with them.

"But that's not a problem. This is part of the business.

"Sure, it would be a step back when someone has an offer from somebody else and wants to leave.

"But we are not that far I think and we know we have to at first finish the season and then we will have a look at what happens."

Tottenham could look to use Kyle walker-Peters as a make-weight in the deal for Hojbjerg, with Southampton interested in signing the right back on a permanent basis.

Walker-Peters has been on loan at St Mary's since January.

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