Newcastle United are in the middle of yet another proposed takeover yet despite the news of a £300M bid to buy the North East club being announced over three months ago, papers are yet to be signed.
There have been a number of complications to completing the deal between NUFC owner Mike Ashley and the Saudi-backed consortium with Amanda Staveley orchestrating the transaction.
After the initial excitement and joy from Newcastle fans about the possibility of a new owner, who may look to invest heavily in the club, elation has died down despite the offer still being on the table.
However, the club is still up for sale and if a deal does go through, it’s likely that Steve Bruce will be replaced as manager.
So, who will be the next manager of Newcastle United?
Here are the bookies favourites:
Odds were correct at the time of publishing but are subject to change
Mauricio Pochettino
- Odds: 6/5
- Bookie: Betfair
The ex-Spurs manager is the bookies favourite to replace Steve Bruce at Newcastle with the best odds currently being at Betfair at 6/5.
Pochettino played as a centre back for Espanyol, Paris Saint-Germain, Bordeaux and the Argentinian national team during his playing career before moving into a management role at Espanyol in 2009 with the task of saving the club from relegation. At this stage, Pochettino had only just received his EUFA Pro Licence yet was able to manage a 0-0 draw against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in his first game in charge. Espanyol finished a respectable mid-table that season and Pochettino was contracted for another two seasons before moving to the Premier League as manager of Southampton.
In his first season in charge of Southampton, Pochettino led them to an 8th-place finish which was the highest the club had finished in the Premier League in 10 years. He left Southampton after just one season to manager Tottenham Hotspur on a five-year contract where he would remain until November 2019 after achieving a 2nd-place finish in the 2015/16 season.
Rafa
- Odds: 11/5
- Bookie: Betfair
Rafa Benitez is well known in Newcastle having managed the club from March 2016 – June 2019. Despite being unbeaten in their last 6 matches of the season, Benitez was unable to keep the club from dropping into the Championship but surprisingly remained at the club to fight for promotion which they did by winning the league the following season.
Prior to joining Newcastle in 2016, Benitez had successful spells at Napoli, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Valencia, Real Madrid and of course, Liverpool.
Some achievements the Spaniard has managed over the years include winning the Italian Cup, the Italian Super Cup, UEFA Europa League, Community Shield, FA Cup, EFL Championship, European Super Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and the La Liga title.
Not many Newcastle fans would not like to see Benitez back at the club and with a new owner, a return to the North East is a possibility.
Other Managers
Bookies seem to have Pochettino and Benitez as the main two contenders to replace Steve Bruce should a new owner of the club be announced but there are a string of other managers who are possibilities.
- Zinedine Zidane 13/1
- Laurent Blanc 10/1
- Andres Villas-Boas 14/1
- Julian Nagelsmann 17/1
- Massimiliano Allegri 20/1
- Jorge Jesus 20/1
- Robero Mancini 20/1
- Kevin Keegan 25/1
- Luciano Spalletti 25/1
- Lucien Favre 25/1
- Marcelo Bielsa 33/1
- Marcelino Garcia Toral 40/1
- Ralph Hasenhuttl 40/1
- Marco Rose 50/1
- Paulo Fonseca 50/1
- Roberto Martinez 50/1
- Steven Gerrard 66/1
- Marco Silva 66/1
- German Burgos 66/1
- Gary Neville 66/1
- Luis Enrique 66/1