Spurs agree fee with Southampton for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg while Kyle Walker-Peters heads other way

Tottenham have agreed fees with Southampton to sign Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and for Kyle Walker-Peters to move in the other direction.  

Hojbjerg will become Jose Mourinho’s first signing of the summer in a deal starting at £15 million with add-ons, while Walker-Peters’ loan at St Mary’s will be made permanent for £12m before performance clauses. 

The deals were treated separately, rather than a swap, with the intention of concluding both this week once medicals are completed. 

Hojbjerg, 24, had one year left on his contract at St Mary’s and publicly stated he wanted to move to a club playing European football, and he will be playing in the Europa League with Spurs next season. 

The Denmark international had the captaincy taken away from him when he refused to commit his future to the club and Spurs held the upper hand in negotiations as the player wanted to join them ahead of Everton and Ajax.

Walker-Peters, 23, spent the second half of the season on loan at Southampton and played regularly during Project Restart after recovering from injury during football’s break for the coronavirus pandemic. 

Spurs will look for a right-back to cover for the loss of Walker-Peters and should they lose Serge Aurier. AC Milan are interested in Aurier but are not close to his asking price. 

Hojbjerg will compete for a place in central midfield where Tanguy N’Dombele struggled in his first season at the club following his club record £53.8m move from Lyon. Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko, Giovani Lo Celso and Gedson Fernandes are other options, while Eric Dier was played at centre-back in recent games.

As revealed by the Daily Telegraph, former Spurs captain Ledley King has been appointed as first-team assistant at the club.

“He has tremendous affinity with this club. Fans appreciate how much he accomplished as a true Spurs man on and off the pitch,” said Mourinho. “We have developed a good relationship, and we hope to use his experience and insight.”