When Thomas Frank starts working with his Tottenham players later this week there will be one missing face that the new head coach might just wish he had at his disposal.
The Dane will have a large Spurs squad to make plenty of decisions about with 14 players alone returning from loan and Frank will need to make the calls on who stays, who goes and who needs to come into the club. However, one decision has already been made for him and such is the way in football it's a player he might well have wanted to keep.
Football is littered with transfers that had already been agreed before a new manager took charge and in Frank's case one of the club's loan players did not return from their time in France. That was Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has now ended his time at Tottenham as his loan move to Marseille become permanent thanks to an obligation that will net the north London club around £17million (€20million).
The 29-year-old, now captain of Denmark, would have reached the end of his contract at Spurs this summer anyway so it's not like Frank would have been able to change what happened even without the obligation.
However, there may be a certain sense of 'what if' because the two men worked together years ago in the Danish international set-up, with Hojbjerg one of Frank's most trusted players in the centre of the pitch, particularly as Denmark reached the semi-finals of the European under-17 Championships.
"I coached Hojbjerg for three years in the Danish youth teams. I said to him, when he was in the under-17 national team, that he could be a world-class holding midfielder,” Frank said of his compatriot in 2021.
"On the ball his technical ability is extremely strong. He has a great first touch and a wide passing range. He is a very good passer, and he protects the ball well. He also has physicality and pace. He has the potential to be one of the best sitting midfielders in the Premier League."
The irony is that Frank is expected to require exactly that type of midfielder this summer in the transfer market when Tottenham already had a strong, experienced candidate for his system within their ranks.
Hojbjerg played 184 times for Spurs after joining in 2020 from Southampton, scoring 10 times and recording 17 assists. While he went from guaranteed starter under previous managers, he became more of a fringe player under Ange Postecoglou. The Dane still proved to be an important factor, often from the bench, in helping the north London outfit reach fifth place in the Premier League in the Australian's first season.
The midfielder then went to Marseille on loan last and played 32 times with three goals and four assists as Roberto De Zerbi's side finished second in Ligue 1 to secure Champions League football next season.
Frank and Tottenham will also have that on the menu but they will have to so without Hojbjerg's leadership in front of the defence.