Tottenham signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg sure he made right transfer decision after debut: 'It's a great place to be'

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George Flood22 August 2020

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hailed Tottenham as a "great place to be" after making his debut for the club in Saturday's pre-season friendly win over Ipswich Town.

The Danish international - a £15million arrival from Southampton earlier in August - started alongside Harry Winks in midfield for the contest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, playing for just over an hour and producing an assured display as Jose Mourinho's side ran out 3-0 winners thanks to Ryan Sessegnon's early opener and a first-half brace from Heung-min Son.

Hojbjerg was not the only new Tottenham signing on display against League One opposition, with experienced goalkeeper Joe Hart also introduced at half-time in north London.

And speaking after the full-time whistle, former Southampton captain Hojbjerg revealed his happiness at what he has found during his early weeks at the club.

"The guys are good, the coaching staff fantastic," he told Tottenham's media team. "The whole surrounding around the team, everything is well set up, so it's really good.

"There is an environment where everybody wants to be better, everybody wants to have no excuses.

"As a human being, but also as a sportsman, as a football player, it's a great place to be."

Saturday's first experience of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as a home player left Hojbjerg in no doubt as to whether he made the correct choice in opting to join Spurs.

Mourinho's side face a gruelling start to the 2020-21 campaign as they face the possibility of playing as many as nine matches during the first 22 days due to Premier League, Europa League and Carabao Cup commitments.

£15m summer signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made his Tottenham debut in the friendly win against Ipswich (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

And while their headline summer arrival to date was pleased with many aspects of Saturday's performance, he knows there are still improvements to be made before the new season gets under way.

"Lovely. I came [to the stadium] a couple of hours before the game, with the whole squad. It's just fantastic to be here and again it's confirmation that yeah, I'm in the right place," he said.

"The game was okay, I think we did some good steps forward.

"We still have a lot to do, but what we tried to do in the week, what the coach wanted us to do, we tried to work on today and I think we had some moments where we did it well and some moments where we need to do it better.

"But luckily this is what friendly matches are for."