REVEALED: Steve Bruce WILL keep his job as Newcastle manager if £300m takeover goes ahead, despite links to ex-Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri and strong relationship between Rafa Benitez and Amanda Staveley’s camp
- Newcastle United are on the brink of being sold to a Saudi-backed consortium
- Club have been linked with a move for former Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri
- Ex-Magpies manager Rafa Benitez has strong links to Amanda Staveley’s camp
- However, sources say it would be ‘wrong’ to immediately change the manager
- Bruce will almost certainly be in charge for the next game, whenever that is
Steve Bruce will keep his job as Newcastle manager should the proposed takeover of the club go through.
Sources close to the £300million deal being brokered by Amanda Staveley say it would be ‘wrong’ to make an immediate managerial change.
The suggestion that the Saudi-backed consortium will be bringing in one of the world’s most expensive coaches – such as former Juventus boss Max Allegri – has also been played down, at least in the short term.
Steve Bruce will keep his job as Newcastle manager if a £300million takeover goes ahead
The odds on Massimiliano Allegri becoming the next Newcastle boss were slashed this week
The takeover, of course, still needs to be signed off by the Premier League and that, according to sources on one side, is the only obstacle remaining.
Should all be well with the League’s owners and directors test and the funding of the deal, then Mike Ashley’s 13-year reign could be over within the next month, before football resumes.
But Bruce, we are told, will remain. For how long would no doubt depend on his performance and, perhaps, the availability of alternatives.
Former Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez and those close to him have longstanding links to the Staveley camp, and his name remains part of the conversation around this proposed takeover.
Benitez, though, has a watertight contract with Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang and, as Sportsmail revealed in December, it would take a world-record buyout in excess of £20m to release him this year.
That figure is likely to decrease with time but, politically, it is thought it would be very difficult for him to leave inside the first year of his contract.
Businesswoman Amanda Staveley is on the brink of completing a £300m Newcastle takeover
It would cost Newcastle over £20million to bring back former manager Rafa Benitez
Bruce had taken Newcastle to 13th in the table before the coronavirus suspension and was almost certain to secure their top-flight status.
It is thought that he, like many of the club’s senior figures, remain in the dark over the takeover, which has been negotiated by Ashley’s trusted lieutenant Justin Barnes as well as his lawyers.
But Bruce should take some comfort from the news that his job will be safe and he will almost certainly get the chance to lead Newcastle into their next fixture, whenever that may be.
Meanwhile, we understand that the ‘charge agreement’ documents filed with Companies House last week refer to a ‘nominal’ amount of money that is being put aside concerning costs connected to the takeover and not, as first interpreted, a loan of £150m from Ashley to Staveley. Sources insist the deal will be debt free.