Bordeaux's new owners have told L'Equipe that a "financial decision" led to them rejecting the opportunity to appoint Thierry Henry as their new coach.

Henry was widely expected to replace Gus Poyet at the French club last month with some reports even going as far as to claim the parties had reached an agreement.

Instead, GACP, the U.S. investment fund that is set to complete its buyout of Bordeaux's current owners, TV channel M6 by Sept. 28, appointed Ricardo at the head of the first team. Speaking to L'Equipe, Joe DaGrosa, the head of GACP, said their unwillingness to break the financial model they have in mind for the club had led them to walking away from Henry.

"In each business, whether it be a football team, a shop or an insurance company, there are business plans," the American businessman said. "And sometimes that involves taking difficult decisions.

"We had hoped to reach an agreement with Thierry Henry, but sometimes reasonable people can disagree. That's what happened. I have a lot of respect for him. He was a great player and he has a very interesting career plan, but we took a financial decision and not an emotional one

"Thierry Henry perhaps had a bad impression of our talks but at the end of our meeting, we made it clear that it was we who were leaving the talks for financial reasons."

There had been reports in French media that Henry had been unconvinced by GACP's vision of how much power he would wield at the club, but DaGrosa insisted that it was merely a question of money that eventually led to the deal falling through.

"There was no confusion on the matter," DaGrosa said.