Premier League sleeping giants Newcastle United appear to be planning for life after Steve Bruce with Rafa Benitez and Mauricio Pochettino lined up.
Mauricio Pochettino and Rafa Benitez are in pole position to replace Steve Bruce at Newcastle United, according to Le10 Sport.
While Bruce is not exactly universally adored on the Tyneside terraces, you’d need a heart of stone not to feel even the briefest pang of sympathy for a Geordie gaffer who wears his lifelong love of Newcastle United with pride.
But with the Magpies on the verge of a £300 million takeover which promises to re-establish a sleeping giant amongst the English football elite, it feels like the rug is going to be pulled from under Bruce’s feet.
A former Wigan, Sunderland and Birmingham boss is not exactly the most glamourous of names after all. And billionaire Saudi prince Mohamed Bin Salman appears to have his heart set on the kind of appointment which will get European football sitting up and taking notice.
ESPN claimed that six-time Serie A winner and Juventus legend Max Allegri is in the conversation, while Lucien Favre of Borussia Dortmund and ex-Inter Milan boss Luciano Spalletti have also been linked.
But according to Le10 Sports, there are two names at the front of the queue right now – Pochettino and Benitez.
Considering that Pochettino transformed Spurs from perennial underachievers into genuine title challenges, not to mention Champions League finalists, the Argentine looks the perfect fit for a Newcastle side just beginning their journey.
Benitez, meanwhile, shares ‘Messiah’ status with Kevin Keegan on Tyneside these days after four fine years in the Newcastle dugout. The Mail reports that it would take a world-record £20 million to buy the Spaniard out of his contract at Dalian Yifang – but money is not exactly in short supply in Saudi Arabia.
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