Newcastle United: Owners hold talks with former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca

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Paulo Fonseca was the leader of Roma to fifth in Serie A during his first season

As they continue to search for Steve Bruce's replacement, Newcastle United's new owners have had talks with Paulo Fonseca, former Roma manager.

The Saudi-backed consortium is considering several candidates.

The job was offered to Eddie Howe (ex-Bournemouth manager), Lucien Favre (ex-Borussia Dortmund coach) and Roberto Martinez (Belgium boss).

As an interim coach, Graeme Jones will be leading Newcastle at Crystal Palace as assistant coach.

Bruce left the club Wednesday with the new consortium who took over two weeks ago. They wanted to take their time in making the right appointment.

Fonseca, the Portuguese manager, was in charge at Roma for two seasons between 2021 and 2019. He led the club to fifth in Serie A and the Europa League semifinals in his first season before being replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Prior to joining Shakhtar Donetsk as their manager, the 48-year old almost joined Tottenham in June, before the Premier League club changed its tack and appointed Nuno Espirito Sante.

Newcastle have yet to win the Premier League this season, and are currently second on the table with just three points.

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the Saudi finance minister, has responded to 18 Premier League clubs voting temporarily to block teams from agreeing to lucrative sponsorship deals that were tied to their owners.

Newcastle voted against, Manchester City abstained. Both cities questioned the legality and legitimacy of the move that prevents Magpies from signing sponsorship deals with companies related to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. This fund owns 80%.

Al-Jaadan stated to financial television channel CNBC, that supporters can expect an "enhanced club".

He stated that "if people are concerned about competition between clubs, especially now we have invested into one of them; possibly it's an indicator that there is a possible serious competitor coming their direction, which would be good for the entire football community."