NEWCASTLE United have refuted reports that they attempted to persuade Michael Emenalo to work with them.
The former Super Eagles left-back was widely reported to have turned down newly-rich Newcastle’s offer over the weekend.
The 56-year-old, who featured for Nigeria at the country’s first World Cup in 1994, oversaw great success at Chelsea as their sporting director, the same role Newcastle United purportedly wanted him for.
However, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, a co-owner of Newcastle United, denied the reports that Emenalo was offered a sporting director role at St James’ Park.
Ghodoussi tweeted on Sunday: “Contrary to a newspaper report, Michael Emenalo was never offered the job of sporting director or director of football at Newcastle United.”
Emenalo has been out of work since leaving Monaco in 2019.
He had spent seven years at Chelsea before joining the French club in a similar sporting director role.
Ghodoussi is a part-owner of PCP Capital Partners, which holds a minority stake in Newcastle and was part of the consortium – led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – that completed its £300m takeover of the club in October.
Newcastle’s search for a sporting director is continuing, while they are also looking for a replacement for Lee Charnley, the former managing director.
Since the new owners came on board weeks ago, the only major change has been the sacking of Steve Bruce as manager and appointment of Eddie Howe as his replacement.
Howe led them to their only Premier League victory of the season — 1-0 at home to Burnley on Saturday.
