Newcastle United are negotiating a £5million compensation fee with Championship side Sheffield Wednesday for manager Steve Bruce and his backroom staff, according to The Times.
The newspaper claims that the Magpies are in the process of sorting out a compensation package for the veteran boss, which could reach the aforementioned amount if he takes a number of members of staff with him to St James’ Park.
Bruce is thought to have met with Owls owner and chairman Dejphon Chansiri on Thursday morning, where he informed him that he wanted to take the Newcastle job.
Chansiri was ready to fight his corner to keep his man after only appointing him in January, but it is now expected that Bruce will indeed take up the post on Tyneside.
OPINION
Well, this certainly seems like a done deal at this point, doesn’t it? It’s not what the Newcastle supporters want to read, but it certainly feels as if Bruce being appointed as Rafael Benitez’s successor is all but assured. He’s not going to be a popular replacement for a world class manager in the Spaniard, but there you go. The only surprising thing here is that the infamously thrifty Magpies owner Mike Ashley is seemingly prepared to pay a compensation figure worth £5million for Bruce. You would have thought that after Benitez departed, that Ashley would go for a cheap free agent boss. However, it seems that Newcastle have zeroed in on Bruce and are just ironing out the fine details at this stage. It would represent a hugely underwhelming appointment, but that’s just the way of things at St James’ Park these days. What can you do? We seem to be approaching the final furlong of negotiations with Bruce, so it’s likely all but done now.
