Realistically a player can’t come out and say that want a move to another club, but somehow saying they want to play at a higher level seems to be okay.
It’s a thinly veiled way of saying you want to move somewhere better, and Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is the latest to make that declaration.
As reported by The Evening Standard, he’s only got one year left on his contract with the club and he’s also interesting Spurs, so these comments are interesting:
“I know what I want, the club knows it too. I want to play at an even higher level than I am currently. The relationship between me and Southampton is fantastic.”
“The club gave me the platform to grow. I’m not saying ‘goodbye’ and I’m focused on my club, but my goal is very clear: I want to win the Premier League and the Champions League.”
“I gained a lot of experience [at Bayern Munich] so that I could move on to develop elsewhere. When I was 23 I became a captain in a Premier League club. Now I’m hungry to get to the next level.”
His career path has been interesting because he looked like he would go on to establish himself in the Bayern midfield, but he couldn’t hold down a place and eventually he was forced to move elsewhere.
He can play anywhere through the centre of midfield and has a great work ethic so he sounds like a player Mourinho would like, so this could be worth keeping an eye on.
There’s no mention of a potential price tag at this point, but if he only has one year left on his contract then he could be a bargain for Spurs.