In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Tottenham Hotspur icon Gary Mabbutt says the club may have finally unearthed a player who can fill the void left by Mousa Dembele - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

It's been almost two years since the midfielder left Tottenham Hotspur for Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R&F in an £11m deal, and arguably up until the current campaign the north London outfit had failed to replace him properly.

The likes of Gedson Fernandes and club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele had arrived in the centre of the park prior to the 2020 summer transfer window, but are yet to make the same impact that the Belgian did for Spurs after joining them from Fulham in 2012.

As well as scoring 10 goals and providing a further 12 assists in 249 appearances, the composed midfielder had a passing accuracy of 92.2%, as per WhoScored, in the Premier League in his final full campaign with the club, while he was also a proven successful dribbler with the ball, too.

Hojbjerg linked up with Jose Mourinho during the summer in a deal costing £15m, and he has hit the ground running to date. He has made considerably more passes than any other top flight player so far in 2020/21, as well as picking up an assist following an incisive through ball in the 6-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Asked whether he could potentially fill the void left by Dembele, Mabbutt told FFC: "He’s certainly got the ability to. Dembele was a massive character in the squad, was a firm favourite and was a fantastic player for the club.

"I never ever look at wanting to fill a void that someone has left, and someone has got to come in and try and be that player that was there.”

The ex-Spurs captain added: "He’s got that bit about him. He’s got a bit of tenacity about him and he’s willing to get stuck in. He can be vocal, but I’d like to see him dominating more in that position."

Hojbjerg certainly has a lot more to prove that he can replace Dembele n the long-term, but the early signs are certainly promising.

In other news, Mabbutt has sent an ultimatum to Jose Mourinho about £100k-p/w "magic" Tottenham star...