With just a year of his contract left Pierre Emile Hojbjerg has yet to sign a new contract amid rumours he is Tottenham Hotspur's top transfer target, this week he has given his biggest indication yet of his intentions.
Rumours of Pierre Emile Hojbjerg's future have been flying around for the last six months as he comes to the final year of his contract.
Some Saints supporters have been very vocal about their rating of the Danish midfielder and it isn't really complimentary, however those same fans are usually less than gushing about Nathan Redmond and James Ward Prowse and a few years ago probably complained on a weekly basis about Sadio Mane and Pelle.
That is unfair although Hojbjerg had a slow start with Saints and looked like he was on his way out under Mauricio Pellegrino, he has been a versatile and solid performer in the past couple of seasons.
But is he good enough to be Spurs top target ? most would say that he has never really shown that extra spark that marks him out as a truly exceptional performer, but having said that he could be a player that needs and blossoms alongside top quality players.
Now though he has given his biggest indication of his future via and interview with German Sports media outlet Sport 1.
At Bayern Munich he was tipped for stardom but in his own words became impatient .
"My biggest weakness during this time was my impatience,” .
"I wasn’t ready to wait a year, two or three years for my breakthrough. I wanted to be important right away. I was too emotional too.
"But how can I fail? I trained with the best players in the world between the ages of 17 and 20. I was in a school of champions. But I wanted to get out of there and write my own story.
"I gained a lot of experience 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.”
Hojbjerg joined Saints in 2016, and after that difficult first season and a bit started to blossom and like any player he has the confidence and the ambition to play at the highest level.
When asked of his future plans he had this to say.
"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."
So in terms of his Saints career this does not look good, but it should also be noted that if you asked all Premier League players of their ambitions, few would say that they want to spend it fighting relegation year in year out.
The nature of being a professional footballer is that you need to be driven, you need to have the self belief that you are good enough to play with the best.
So when Hojbjerg talks of his ambition that does not necessarily mean that he wan't to leave the club now or will not sign a new deal.
He has gave positive indications on his social media pages of wanting to stay with the club and he knows still aged 24 he has time to achieve those ambitions.
But he seems to be certainly aware of any potential interest, Spurs and Everton have been linked, but whether this is actually concrete or merely his agent trying to further his career is unclear.
If Hojbjerg was to leave then the Saints fanbase would be split, from my experience around 1/3 consider him a vital player to keep, another 1/3 see him as a solid player and that final 1/3 feel that he lacks what it takes to truly be one of the squads better players, with some of them very critical.
Personally I feel he has been a good player for Saints and like James Ward Prowse is often not appreciated for what he had done, I would be surprised if he did move to Spurs or a truly big club, but if he moved on then we have to say goodbye and take the money.
Maybe he will then go on to make some eat their words as did Sadio Mane, but when he moved to Liverpool it was a good deal for Saints, he was not giving us £35 million's worth of contribution, he blossomed at Liverpool in a way he didn't at St Mary's.
Tat too could be the case for Hojbjerg, I would rather he signed a contract and stayed, but if he left I feel if we used the money well then we could more than adequately replace him.