France football legend Thierry Henry not joining Bordeaux after talks break down

Thierry Henry will not be the next coach of Bordeaux, with the French club’s president confirming to AFP on Tuesday that negotiations had broken down.

“Yes, we can confirm the end of those negotiations,” Stephane Martin told AFP, following earlier reports in France and England that Henry had turned the job down.

Sky Sports, the channel for whom Henry worked as a pundit for four years before quitting last month, said late on Monday that he had refused the offer to take his first managerial role since retiring as a player.

According to French sports daily L’Equipe, Henry felt that he had not been given sufficient guarantees by General American Capital Partners (GACP), the American consortium expected to take over Bordeaux at the end of September from current owners, the media conglomerate M6.

Despite his lack of experience as a coach, appointing the 41-year-old would have been a remarkable coup for Bordeaux, the six-time French champions.

They are looking for a replacement for the Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet, whose departure from the club is expected to be made official later on Tuesday.

Poyet was only appointed in January and led the club to European qualification at the end of last season, but he was suspended earlier this month after a very public outburst at directors over transfer policy.

Henry, who had been working as an assistant coach to the Belgian national team, met GACP in New York at the end of last week having come to an initial agreement with M6.

According to reports, however, Bordeaux were surprised by his salary demands given his lack of experience as a coach. Reports say he also wanted three new signings before the transfer window closes at the end of this week.

Bordeaux had already been turned down by former coach Laurent Blanc and Remi Garde, another ex-Arsenal player who is now at Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer.

As their search for a successor to Poyet goes on, interim coach Eric Bedouet is set to take charge of the team in their next game, the Europa League play-off, second leg at home to Belgian club Gent on Thursday.