Tottenham are reportedly looking to appoint Paulo Fonseca as their new manager, but he could have been Newcastle boss had a takeover happened.
According to the Daily Mail, the 48-year-old is in talks about becoming Tottenham manager.
Spurs are still on the lookout for a new boss after sacking Jose Mourinho in April.
But after a lengthy process, it looks like they could appoint the man Mourinho is set to replace at Roma.
Fonseca enjoyed two seasons in the Italian capital, but is probably best known for his exploits with Shakhtar Donetsk.
It’s taken Tottenham a long time to find a new boss, with failed moves for Brendan Rodgers, Antonio Conte and former hero Mauricio Pochettino.
Now Fonseca is at the front of the queue, but could he have replaced Steve Bruce at St James’ Park?
Prospective Newcastle owners reportedly wanted Paulo Fonseca
According to the Daily Mail, Fonesca was a candidate to replace Bruce as Toon boss if a takeover had gone through last summer.
As we all know, PCP Capital Partners agreed a deal to buy the club from Mike Ashley.
However, a deal collapsed in July when the Public Investment Fund withdrew.
Now the takeover saga is set to hit the courts, with Mike Ashley taking legal action against the Premier League.
Bruce remains as manager, with no takeover as of yet to put his job at risk.
But things could have been very different had Amanda Staveley and co been given the green light last summer.
Fonseca would have been an interesting appointment, although he was far from the biggest name linked with Newcastle.
This time last year, the likes of Pochettino, Max Allegri, Lucien Favre and Rafa Benitez were reportedly candidates to replace Bruce.
In the end, the takeover collapsed and Bruce remained. We played terrible football and fans complained, before pundits told us we were wrong. Then Joe Willock kept us up ahead of another summer dominated by takeover talk.
It’s never dull at Newcastle United.
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