MARSEILLE yesterday denied they were looking to appoint former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan as coach after an English newspaper reported that the French side were chasing him.

Deputy president Jean-Michel Roussier said yesterday that "no contact has been made with Keegan" after The Guardian said that Keegan, a close friend of Marseille president Robert-Louis Dreyfus, was a target of the 1993 European champions.

Keegan, who recently signed up with Independent Television as a football commentator, walked out on Newcastle in January after five years with the club he took from the bottom of the first division to the top of the Premiership.

"I am looking forward to my new life away from football," he said after quitting St James' Park, although he added: "You never say never again'."

Marseille have been in the doldrums they were found guilty of rigging a match against Valenciennes in the French first division.