Hojbjerg confident of becoming another Saints success story

The name Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg may be new – and difficult to pronounce – for Southampton fans, but the Denmark midfielder insists he has arrived in England fully aware of the success on the south coast.

The 21-year-old is aiming to get his career back on track after falling out with Pep Guardiola due to his frustrations over a lack of game time at Bayern Munich.

Consequently, Hojbjerg had spent the last two seasons farmed out on loan at Augsburg and Schalke before new Saints boss Claude Puel decided to take the plunge by swooping for him in a £13m deal.

Frenchman Puel is busy imprinting his own style on Southampton, having implemented a diamond formation in a departure from former manager Ronald Koeman.

But nevertheless, Hojbjerg says he is up to speed with the DNA of a club that placed sixth in the Premier League last year – their highest-ever finish.

“I knew of course that they had Gareth Bale, Chamberlain, Luke Shaw, Schneiderlin, and last season they had the best season in the club’s history so I knew the club before I came,” he said.

“To play in the (Premier League) will be fantastic but we are at the start of the season and there is a long way to go. It’s about working hard and trying to improve every day. I’ll have to see day-by-day and week-by-week.

“I think it is important to identify yourself with the people and the club you go to.

“Even before I had signed here, I could still see myself here at Southampton and that was the big step. In the end it is also about how was the way of playing and how was the way of thinking.”

 (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)

Though there were some aspects Hojbjerg admits he did not fully anticipate before joining up with the club – the quality of the facilities coupled with a pain-staking attention to detail.

“The stadium is beautiful,” he added. “The training ground is excellent and has everything we need and the team and staff are all very focused on what is important: they want to improve all the time and focus on the results.

“The whole set-up about the club, the players and the club is very good. You can only get better if you have the right mentality and want to learn.

“The way it is all set up helps. The way we train, the way we eat, the way we are treated. The dressing room is great.”