Newcastle United made a move to sign Marseille midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg following the £75million sale of Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal.
The Magpies’ squad is in need of some experience and leadership heading into the new season, with midfield reinforcements high on the agenda following the sales of Sandro Tonali and Guimaraes.
Newcastle have signed Aladji Bamba and Sean Steur to bolster their midfield for a combined fee of £53million. But the pair are just 20 and 18 respectively and have no Premier League experience.
Sean Steur at Newcastle United.placeholder image
Sean Steur at Newcastle United. | Getty Images
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As such, Newcastle turned to Hojbjerg, who has over 250 Premier League games under his belt from spells at Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton. At 31, he would also not command a huge transfer fee.
In fact, leading French outlet L’Equipe have reported the estimated fee that had been lined up between Newcastle and Marseille only for Hojbjerg to turn down the move.
L’Equipe claimed the deal would have been worth an initial €8million with a further €2million in bonuses. The €10million package converts roughly to just £8.54million.
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But the low transfer fee was due to Hojbjerg’s significant wages at Stade Velodrome, which are understood to be in excess of £100,000-per-week.
L’Equipe added that Newcastle were willing to match Hojbjerg’s contract at Marseille, offering him a three-year deal. But the Danish international ultimately turned down the opportunity to return to the Premier League, keeping his options open for a potential move elsewhere.
The decision was not well received internally at Marseille, with club owner Frank McCourt claimed to have been enraged by Hojbjerg’s actions. A report from Foot Mercato said that McCourt wants everyone to ‘take their responsibilities and place the future of OM above individual interests’.
Newcastle are now looking at alternatives heading into the final weeks of the summer transfer window.