Agent of ex-Tottenham midfielder weighs in as Newcastle begin push to replace Guimaraes
The agent of a former Tottenham midfielder has revealed his thoughts in regards to his current club amid links with a move to Newcastle United.
The Magpies are losing Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal, having already seen Sandro Tonali head to Tottenham. Their midfield has taken a massive hit, and though they’ve signed Sean Steur, they’ll need more recruits.
Multiple outlets, including Sky Sports, are reporting Newcastle are exploring the signing of former Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Their reporter, Keith Downie, states the Danish international is valued at around £15million, and is an experienced option who could potentially help ease the exit of Guimaraes.
Hojbjerg, currently at Marseille, is said to be just one of Newcastle’s options at the moment.
Santi Aouna, meanwhile, states discussions are ongoing between the Magpies and Marseille for the Dane, and that talks are progressing with the former Tottenham man.
He is already said to have given the green light for a return to the Premier League.
Hojbjerg’s agent weighs in
Meanwhile, Hojbjerg’s agent, Luca Puccinelli, has given his insight into a potential transfer.
He said: “Pierre is a proud Olympique de Marseille player, he is working hard and staying focused everyday. About the future we will see.”
But after Aouna’s reveal, it seems Hojbjerg is open to a move and there could be progress on it.
Newcastle fans will be aware they’re not getting the same level of player as Guimaraes if they are to land the Dane, but what they would be getting is a 31-year-old with a good deal of Premier League experience for a big-six club.
It will sting that the Brazilian star is leaving the club, but per sporting director Ross Wilson, he’s gone about things the right way.
He said of Guimaraes: “We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us — or ownership — wanted to sell Bruno.
“He’s our captain, he was very, very important to us and the debate over his price — it’s a world-record fee for a player of his age.
“What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on.
“That doesn’t mean he can go but it certainly plays a part in what our thinking is when we hit a certain range of number. But there’s no part in saying it was part of our strategy and was in our thinking this summer — it wasn’t.
“But we have got to be flexible and react to things that happen. It might have been in our plan to sign one player but we didn’t get him so we move on to another. We can only be honest about that.”
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