Where he fits

Football Slices

Højbjerg appears in a double pivot with James Ward-Prowse, where neither tends to play particularly further forward than the other. This is not Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first line of defence so off-ball contributions are similar.

Højbjerg gets significantly more on-ball time than Ward-Prowse and completes higher risk actions, maximising his range of passing.

He has comparable passing and shot creation to other similar players, and slightly outperforms them for the most dangerous type of pass - into the opposition penalty area.

He should stop shooting, but that’s fixable

This is bad decision making, not bad finishing. Højbjerg has the skill to do even better in the attacking third by not taking a long shot in most matches.

He’s taken impressive risks to get this transfer

Superstars excepted, it’s unusual to play 10,000 top division minutes across before age 25. But having joined Europa League Southampton four years ago, he’s entitled to feel like this leg of his career could have gone a little better.

Nonetheless it takes ambition to move away from Bayern when easier options might be on the table. Now he is positioned for his peak age contract, he can join a club which knows it wants an impressive midfielder, but not exactly sure what they want him to do.

Sign this player if you want

• more passing and ball progression in your middle third
  and
• consistently solid defensive output
  and
• you’re not really sure about your current manager

Don’t sign this player if you want

• the next Kante/Ndidi/Gueye that lets you get five attacking players on the pitch
  or
• one player to put all your centre-of-the-pitch creation through
  or
• you’re trying to build some specific play style