Pierre-Emile Højbjerg explains what it means to captain Southampton | OneFootball

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg says being handed the Southampton captaincy was maybe the proudest moment of his career.

Højbjerg was initially given the captain’s armband by Ralph Hasenhüttl when Ryan Bertrand was out with injury but the Dane kept hold of it even after his team-mate returned.

When he was just 17 and playing for Bayern Munich, Højbjerg’s father Christian passed away after a battle with cancer, and the midfielder believes that experience has made him mature beyond his years.

“I think the older you get, the more experienced you get because stuff happens to you,” the 23-year-old told the Southern Daily Echo.

“You grow into a certain position in your life and in your sport and I think that is happening with me.

“I really like to take responsibility. I would say I grow with responsibility.

“I am who I am, and I give what I can to the team and the club thinks I am worthy to be captain.

“I am very proud and very honoured. It is maybe the proudest moment of my career.

“You take it in, but you also know that you have a responsibility and you need to grow with it and work with it.”

Before signing for Saints, Højbjerg also spent time on loan in the Bundesliga at Augsburg and Schalke and he says he’s been fortunate to have played alongside some of the best in the business during his short career.

“At Bayern Munich, I looked for [Bastian] Schweinsteiger, I looked for the goalkeeper [Manuel] Neuer, I looked for [Philip] Lahm – he was awesome,” he said.

“Even Thomas Müller. He was a bit of a crazy guy but always gave 100% and dedicated himself in terms of winning.

“When I was in Schalke, I played with [Benedikt] Höwedes who won the World Cup.

“At Augsburg, I was with [Alex] Manninger who played for Juventus and Liverpool as well.

“These are the types of players I always had good relationships with, so I just saw a bit of myself in them and maybe they said, ‘Here is the young lad who wants to learn’.

“When I came here, there was Virgil [van Dijk], Ryan [Bertrand], Jose [Fonte] and Dusan [Tadic].

“They were all big players with big personalities. I was looking to them and studying what they would eat.”