Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stripped of Marseille captaincy after refusing to join Newcastle United | OneFootball

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 sign the Dane 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 the cards,

Hojbjerg was in their starting line-up against Atletico Madrid yesterday and finished 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 unfold, 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 he wants to join Aston Villa.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba has emerged as a fresh target for Newcastle, but it is unclear whether he wants to join them.