The €2M clause complicating Höjbjerg's contract extension at Marseille

Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg has a cut-price exit clause written into his Marseille contract: according to L’Équipe, the Danish midfielder could leave OM for just €2 million at the end of his third season, on a total four-year deal.

This clause sheds retrospective light on his refusal to transfer to Newcastle this summer. While the English club was offering around €15 million, Höjbjerg declined — preferring to wait for a far less costly exit for him, and potentially more advantageous at signature for a future employer. The episode greatly angered owner Frank McCourt and weighed on the end of a historically barren summer transfer window, without a single signing.

Now the club’s highest-paid player with a presumed salary of €500,000 per month, the 32-year-old Dane was stripped of the captain’s armband in reaction to this affront. New president Stéphane Richard has nonetheless hinted that he could get it back, while manager Bruno Genesio displays marked appreciation for the experienced midfielder’s profile.

Marseille’s management is now seeking to extend his contract, with the primary objective of spreading his wages over a longer period. But Höjbjerg would have little interest in renouncing a clause that considerably reduces his official market value while opening up a more favorable transfer market for him. Failing a swift agreement, the question of his future at Marseille could resurface as early as the January window.