Newcastle United appear to be moving closer to landing Steve Bruce.
According to The Times, Sheffield Wednesday boss Steve Bruce has now begged owner Dejphon Chansiri to let him leave the club for Newcastle United – but he remains reluctant.
Newcastle are searching for a new manager having seen Rafael Benitez leave the club last month, and a host of names have been ruled out at this point.
It now seems that Bruce – a boyhood Newcastle fan – is the favourite for the job, and he’s allegedly asked Wednesday to let him go in order to secure his dream move.
Owner Chansiri isn’t keen at the moment, and may well hold out for a huge deal, as it’s believed that Bruce actually has a £5million release clause – a huge increase on the £1million reported by The Sun yesterday.
That’s an interesting situation for Mike Ashley to consider, especially as many will feel that spending £5million on a new boss is simply money that could have been given to Benitez in the first place.
Bruce, 58, may well have Newcastle at heart, but this is a controversial appointment, and not just because he had a stint as manager of rivals Sunderland.
Bruce was sacked by Aston Villa in the Championship in October, with many believing that the game has passed him by, though his decent start at Wednesday is encouraging.
This late in his managerial career, Bruce likely won’t get this opportunity to manage his boyhood club again, hence his desire to force a move – but whether Chansiri budges on that £5million price tag remains to be seen.
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