TRANSFER LOWDOWN: PIERRE-EMILE HØJBJERG

By now, many of you will have seen the news that Southampton have announced the signing of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich for a reported fee of £12.8m.

The 20-year-old has become the most expensive Danish player ever, and moves to the Premier League after loan spells in the German top flight with FC Augsburg and Schalke. Despite his young age, the Dane has already made 71 appearances in his first three years as a professional and was highly regarded as a potential star for Bayern, but he wanted to move to find regular football and was not part of Carlo Ancelotti's plans for next season.

That has led the 17-cap international to move to the English South Coast, and to find out more we spoke to Zahra Hasan, assistant editor and writer for Bayern Munich blog Bayern Central. When she is not studying for her Masters degree in Social Media in London, she loves all things Bayern Munich and so was the perfect person to speak to about the newest Saint.

SMM- For Southampton fans unfamiliar with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, what is he like?

ZH-Højbjerg is a hardworking midfielder and is also quite dynamic. At 20 years of age, he has shown strength in the midfield but, with some development, he has great potential. He is proficient in several different positions, which shows his dynamism, and he is able to play a more defensive role as well as go forward and try and score goals - which he is particularly good at from outside of the box.

He is particularly important as a pivot when paired alongside another similar midfielder, and he is able to creatively move the ball forward. With some more polishing, he can be a key part of Southampton's midfield. 

Højbjerg does appear to lack confidence sometimes, making some questionable and slow decisions such as not passing when he should do, but this will likely improve with time.

SMM-How highly did Bayern fans rate him, and are they sad to see him go?

ZH- Højbjerg has been great and it will be upsetting not having him around for sure, but he had been on loan for the past one-and-a-half years anyway and he had said he wanted to leave Bayern, so it is certainly not be unexpected.

SMM-The fee is rumoured to be about £12.8m; are Bayern or Saints getting the better end of the deal, or is it a good move for all parties?

ZH-It's definitely good for both sides, especially considering how packed Bayern's midfield already is and how little playing time he would have had, had he returned to the first team from being on loan for the past 18 months. Southampton will definitely benefit from this hardworking youngster after Wanyama's exit.

SMM-How far can Højbjerg go; could he go onto be a star?

ZH-With some polishing and confidence, he can certainly be excellent once he gets used to the physical pace of the Premier League.

We thank Zahra for her time, and you can give her a follow at

@Zahra_Hasan!