Newcastle United were linked with Bruno Genesio on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Newcastle United were bizarrely linked with a move for Bruno Genesio – and agent Pini Zahavi has now offered his explanation.
The Magpies are in the market for a new manager, having seen Rafael Benitez leave the club when his contract expired on June 30th.
So far, Steve Bruce has been the main candidate for the job. The Sheffield Wednesday boss is a boyhood Newcastle fan, and would seemingly jump at the chance to manage the Magpies despite the chaos under Mike Ashley.
The problem is that Newcastle haven’t been able to finalise a deal for Bruce, with the Shields Gazette noting that a battle over the compensation involved is holding up a move.
Bruce’s move suddenly looked under threat on Tuesday, as Le Progres in France reported that Genesio was in Newcastle to discuss becoming the club’s new manager.
That seemed strange given that Bruce is the only name in the mix right now, and nothing materialised surrounding Genesio, who left Lyon at the end of last season.
Now, his agent Zahavi has explained the situation, telling L’Equipe that Genesio was actually the choice of a United Arab Emirates-based consortium driven by Peter Kenyon, presumably the Bin Zayed Group.
With Ashley now reluctant to sell, Genesio is no longer on the agenda for Newcastle, and Bruce may still be on course for his dream job after all, even if fans would probably rather have Genesio.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
