Juventus accelerate signing of Tottenham star who’s had enough of Postecoglou

Who Juventus chiefs scouted while attending the fiery Tottenham v Chelsea clash on Monday night has been revealed, and the player in question wants out of Spurs, according to multiple reports.

Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign fell in dramatic fashion on Monday night. Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both saw red in the 4-1 defeat. Micky van de Ven and James Maddison both picked up injuries, with Van de Ven’s hamstring issue in particular believed to be serious.

One side note from the contest regards a particular set of observers in the crowd.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed Juventus sporting director, Cristian Giuntoli, was in attendance for the clash. Giuntoli’s deputy, Giovanni Manna, was also spotted.

One player believed to be on Juve’s radar ahead of the January window is Man City midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

Juventus are hunting reinforcements in the engine room on the back of Paul Pogba (doping) and Nicolo Fagioli (betting) both being handed long-term suspensions.

However, according to Romano, Phillips will ultimately be overlooked by Juve who favour a more rounded midfielder capable of influencing the game in the final third too.

Instead, a fresh update from The Telegraph has revealed Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was the player in the Juve chiefs’ sights.

The Telegraph categorically state Hojbjerg was the reason for Giuntoli and Manna attending the match. The Denmark international reportedly features highly on their shortlist of January replacements for Pogba and Fagioli.

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Hojbjerg wants out of Tottenham

Hojbjerg, 28, was a guaranteed starter under former bosses Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte.

However, new boss Ange Postecoglou has favoured a midfield pairing of Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr. The end result has seen Hojbjerg marginalised and the Dane has made just one league start this season.

What’s more, that sole start against Fulham only arose due to Bissouma serving a one-game suspension.

According to transfer guru Romano, Hojbjerg is seeking a way out of north London amid his demotion down the pecking order.

“But for Hojbjerg the contract with his agent has ended and so he’s looking for the opportunities, new options and the January transfer window could be interesting for Hojbjerg because he wants to try a new chapter in 2024,” Romano said on his YouTube channel in late-September.

“It could be January, it could be summer but for sure, Hojbjerg is looking for a new opportunity.”

The Telegraph state the bidding for Hojbjerg is expected to start at the £25m mark. A sale of that size would generate a handy profit for Spurs given Hojbjerg only cost £15m when signed from Southampton in 2020.

But while a Hojbjerg sale amid his lack of action would appear to make sense for Spurs, it would not come without its risks.

Bissouma and Sarr are both in line for a period of absence at the beginning of 2023 when reporting for international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Bissouma will represent Mali, while Sarr will star for Senegal. The tournament takes place between January 13 to February 11 and could deprive Spurs of their starting midfield pairing for close to a month.

Whether that’s enough to give Tottenham cold feet over selling Hojbjerg in January remains to be seen.

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