Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is intense, fascinating and perfect for Antonio Conte's Tottenham

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg may have split opinion among some Tottenham fans last season but he has continued to show on and off the pitch exactly why Antonio Conte rates him so highly.

Only Harry Kane played more minutes than the Dane's 3,986 for Tottenham last season, with both appearing in 50 matches for the club. Ben Davies, with 51 appearances, was the only player used more by Conte than Hojbjerg across all competitions in a busy season. The 26-year-old started the campaign well under Nuno Espirito Santo, had a dip in form midway through the season but finished the campaign strongly alongside Rodrigo Bentancur, with some big performances in key games, and the midfielder has shone this week for Denmark on international duty.

Hojbjerg is a fascinating personality in the dressing room at Tottenham, part of the leadership group within the squad and he is a man with big opinions on everything going on around him at the club. Those behind the scenes describe the articulate Dane as an intense character within the squad, one who constantly drives his team-mates on but also can be a lot to handle at first for those who have not experienced his demeanour before.

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Hojbjerg leads by example and has often played with injuries for Spurs when he should not have, because he did not want to let the team down. understands that he, along with Eric Dier, is the first player to arrive at the club's Hotspur Way training complex each morning and is one of the last to leave.

For Hojbjerg, the switch to Conte's strict food controls from November onwards proved no issue at all because the former Bayern Munich and Southampton midfielder invests heavily in