Tottenham Hotspur have already told Jose Mourinho that some of his former players will not be sold to him when he takes charge over AS Roma ahead of next season, according to a report in the print edition of yesterday's Sunday Sun (page 64). 

What is the latest Tottenham transfer news? 

Following Mourinho's quick-fire appointment in the Italian capital, Corriere dello Sport claimed both Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg were targets after the Portuguese was promised big investment by Roma's owners. 

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However, the report quotes a Spurs insider as saying: "There is no way we would sell either of these players."

How important are Dier and Hojbjerg to Tottenham? 

Despite only joining last summer, Hojbjerg was hailed as one of the signings of their season by Rio Ferdinand earlier in the campaign. Indeed, the Danish international averages the most interceptions per game (1.3, via WhoScored) of any Spurs player to have started over ten games, while his 2.6 tackles over the same period see him rank second in the squad behind Serge Aurier. 

“Hojbjerg. An absolute massive signing for Jose," Ferdinand said on Rio Ferdinand Presents Five (via football.london).

"You have to give him huge, huge, huge credit identifying him – he is going to come here and he is going to be the breaker, the person that sits in there, does all the nasty work, the hard jobs, stops the other teams from playing, pass it to the people like the Kanes and the Sons to go and do their bits of magic.”

The former Southampton man has played in every single minute of their Premier League campaign thus far, while Dier has completed all of the 26 games he's been selected for from the start this season.

While he was dropped for six games in a row between February and April, he hasn't missed a minute since returning against Manchester United on the 11th of April and has been a regular under interim coach Ryan Mason. So far this season, no one at the club averages more in the way of successful aerial duels than the England international (3).  

What are their contractual situations? 

Having only signed recently, Hojbjerg has a contract running until the summer of 2025 and Dier - whose deal doesn't expire until June 2024 - has recently talked about how long he wishes to stay with the North London giants. 

As it stands, these look like two key players who Tottenham are under no pressure to sell.