Marseille midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been stripped of the club’s captaincy after refusing to join Newcastle United. Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle wants to bring the Dane to the St James’ Park club as a replacement for Bruno Guimaraes. Magpies sporting director Ross Wilson is pushing for the deal, but Hojbjerg is not keen, which has angered Marseille owner Frank McCourt. The Ligue 1 club were ready to do a £15 million deal with Newcastle, but a move appears to be off cards, and the French club has appointed another captain.
Hojbjerg was in their starting line-up against Atletico Madrid yesterday, finishing the game. However, the armband was handed to Timothy Weah and Marseille manager Bruno Genesio is not pleased with the decision.
“It is a decision that was dictated to me by the club’s management,” he told the media after the game on Friday.
“If I want to be completely frank, and I will be, it is not a decision that I agree with.
“But I am an employee, I have to comply with certain obligations. We did it.
It will be intriguing to see how things end, but Newcastle will be looking elsewhere as signing a player not interested in joining them makes no sense.
The Magpies have presented a three-year contract to Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha, but the Portuguese wants to join Aston Villa instead.