French coach Bruno Genesio has claimed he was set to become Newcastle United boss in the summer.
The former Lyon boss would have beaten Steve Bruce to the job if the club had been taken over by a consortium led by Peter Kenyon.
Genesio is now in charge of Beijing Guoan, and has confirmed he came close to beating Steve Bruce to the job.
He may have dodged a difficult situation with Bruce now under severe pressure with his team in disarray and second bottom of the Premier League.
Bruce was appointed in mid-July after United were turned down by a series of candidates including Mikel Arteta.
Rafa Benitez quit at the end of June fed up with working for Mike Ashley.
Genesio told beIN SPORTS: “Everything went really quickly, because I was meant to sign with Newcastle, but the sale then fell through.
“I then decided to take some time off for myself, but towards the end of July, I received a phone call from my agents with an opportunity to go manage in China at Beijing Guoan.
“It just all went quickly. Forty-eight hours later I was on a plane, and four days later I was on the touchline for my first game.”
Bruce gave his side Monday off but they returned to training yesterday to hold an inquest on the 5-0 defeat to Leicester .
Isaac Hayden won't play until next month after having his three game ban for a red card against City confirmed.
Newcastle are set for a bumper crowd approaching 50,000 once again for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday, despite winning just once in seven games this season.
