Denmark captain Simon Kjaer is hoping to see Kasper Hjulmand stay put amid speculation linking the national team boss with a move to Premier League strugglers Aston Villa, as he told Ekstra Bladet.
Kjaer, then, would have been delighted by the way Hjulmand responded to those Villa links on Tuesday.
Speaking ahead of Denmark’s World Cup qualifier with the Faroe Islands, the 49-year-old refused to rule out a return to club management in the future but, for the time being, it seems Kjaer and co can rest easy.
“I am super happy to be Denmark coach and I’m not going anywhere right now,” said Hjulmand, who once replaced Thomas Tuchel at Mainz and led a talented Danish squad to the semi-finals of the European Championships this summer.
“I think I have only just started and I am in the process of discovering what this team can do.”
It remains to be seen whether Denmark can go one step further at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but it seems that Hjulmand will be sticking around to find out.
Is Kasper Hjulmand going to turn down Aston Villa?
“Kasper is not going anywhere! At least I hope that DBU (Danish Football Federation) says that,” said the experienced AC Milan centre-back.
“I think everyone is aware of the importance Kasper has had so, if you ask me, he is not going anywhere.”
Johan Lange, Aston Villa’s sporting director, is understood to be driving the pursuit of Hjulmand, having worked with the former Nordsjaelland coach at Danish outfit Lyngby.
As it stands, however, a Villa side who sacked Dean Smith after five successive Premier League defeats appear to have made Rangers boss Steven Gerrard their top target, with Roberto Martinez, Thomas Frank and Graham Potter also in contention.
Both Potter and Martinez have refuted suggestions recently that they would be tempted to walk away from their contracts at Brighton and the Belgian national team respectively.
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