Michael Emenalo in contention for Newcastle United job

Former Chelsea and Monaco sporting director Michael Emenalo has spoken with Newcastle United's new owners about joining the North East giants, 90min has learned.

Newcastle have been looking to appoint a sporting director along with a new manager, and the latter has been finalised after Eddie Howe put pen-to-paper on a deal that runs until 2024.

The Magpies have also been looking at the sporting director role, and sources have told 90min that a handful of people have been spoken to.

Ajax's Marc Overmars was believed to be one of the leading candidates but he was not keen on leaving his current role.

Newcastle want a high-profile candidate who has a history of working on and securing world-class players - and Emenalo has extensive experience of that from his time with Chelsea and Monaco.

Emenalo - himself a former Nigeria international - last worked at Monaco before leaving in 2019. Before that he had spent six years with Chelsea.

The 56-year-old worked on deals for the likes of Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante and Cesc Fabregas, and he is believed to have impressed Newcastle's new regime.

90min understand that Newcastle would like to have a deal for a sporting director concluded within the next couple of weeks, and now Howe is in place the appointment is now their main focus - although they also want a new chief executive before the end of the year.

Other candidates for the role that Newcastle have considered, aside from Emenalo and Overmars, are Luis Campos, Ralph Rangnick, Edwin van der Sar and Jason Wilcox.