Spurs sign Southampton's Hojbjerg, Walker-Peters joins Saints

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur have signed Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton on a five-year deal with full back Kyle Walker-Peters moving in the opposite direction on a similar contract, the Premier League clubs announced on Tuesday.

Financial details of the transfer were not disclosed but British media reported that Spurs have paid Southampton an initial fee of around 15 million pounds ($19.64 million) to sign the 25-year-old Hojbjerg who had a year left on his contract.

Hojbjerg made 134 appearances for Southampton in all competitions after joining the south-coast club from Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in 2016.

"What was very important for me is that I wanted to play in a club where I could see myself for many years," Hojbjerg said in a video posted on the Spurs Twitter account.

"Tottenham was just the one. I'm very proud... I think there's a fantastic future ahead for the club. And I wanted so much to be a part of that."

The Denmark international had been stripped of the Saints captaincy in June when he made his intention to leave the club clear to manager Ralph Hasenhuettl by refusing a contract extension.

Southampton confirmed that they had signed 23-year-old Walker-Peters, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the club. British media put the fee at 12 million pounds.

"It was not easy for Kyle when he arrived here. He needed some time to adapt to our style of play, and then we had this period where we could not be together as a team," Hasenhuettl said in a statement.

"But you could see from how he performed when we came back that he had worked a lot in this time, both on his physical condition and also on his understanding of our own game. It says a lot to me about this player that he was able to do this.

"He's a good fit for our style."

Spurs finished the season sixth in the standings under Jose Mourinho, securing a berth in next season's Europa League qualifiers, while Southampton came 11th.

The new Premier League season begins on Sept. 12.