Newcastle told to sign 'two players to replace Bruno Guimaraes' as talks advance over double deal
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg would have been a strong signing for Newcastle United and useful in their attempts to replace Bruno Guimaraes.
That is the opinion of former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The Magpies have been forced to replace their club captain, who completed a £75million to Arsenal last week.
A move for Hojbjerg currently appears to be off, however, after talks with the Marseille midfielder broke down over his wage demands.
Newcastle have also been linked with Joao Palhinha, who spent last season on loan at Tottenham, but he currently appears more likely to sign for Villa.
With Sandro Tonali having also left this summer, the pressure on transfer chiefs at St James' Park is mounting by the day.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 'isn't afraid' of Newcastle challenge
If they had pulled off a deal for Hojbjerg, Newcastle would have been signing a midfielder with more than 250 Premier League appearances.
The 31-year-old amassed plenty of those at Tottenham, where he spent four years after signing from Southampton.
Since leaving on loan in 2024 and permanently last summer, Hojbjerg has impressed in Ligue 1 and could be set to return to England.
However, despite Newcastle agreeing a fee in the region of £13m with Marseille, Hojbjerg will not be joining unless he lowers his wage demands.
"I've known Hojbjerg a long time, from when he started in Denmark. I don't know that much about Palhinha, but I think you'd need two players to replace Guimaraes because he's a good player," King told Football Insider.
"These two players are obviously experienced players, and I can understand that they are players that could probably fill in. Hojbjerg, he's in Marseille. He's captain of Marseille. He's captain of Denmark.
"He's 31 years old. He's nearly played 100 times for Denmark, so experience isn't a problem for him. He could certainly do a job up there, but again, special club, special atmosphere.
"He's going to be replacing definitely the fan favourite, because they loved him up there, that Guimaraes, didn't they? It's a big disappointment for him that they never got the World Cup, Denmark, which was a surprise for everybody.
"He'll have a go. There's no two ways about that. He ain't afraid to put himself about. Both those players, I mean, if I was Newcastle, you want to bring in something, those two, I'd bring them both in."
Newcastle deal should be revived after Hojbjerg comments
It is unclear whether Newcastle's deal for Hojbjerg is completely dead, with there likely being a hope that his demands will be lowered in the coming days.
Speaking in 2021, the Dane said: "I feel well physically and mentally and again, I truly believe this is a way of living. When I’m 35 or 38 I can stop. Until then, I’ll push myself to the limit and give my all.
"The club know it, my team-mates know it and every day I will try to give my best. This is who I am. I really want to keep improving, keep learning and I feel the environment we have now is perfect to keep growing as a person and as a footballer."
Should Newcastle sign Hojbjerg, they may well be signing a player at the heart of their midfielder for many years yet, and that may be worth stumping up the wages.