45-year-old has travelled to Tyneside to get Newcastle job

Newcastle United may be moving closer to hiring a new sporting director as they have interviewed candidates over the current international break.

According to latest reports, the Magpies have spoken with Benfica director Rui Pedro Braz and it seems he may be emerging as a leading candidate to replace Dan Ashworth, who is expected to leave St James’ Park to take on a role at Manchester United.

Braz has done some impressive work at Benfica, selling big names like Enzo Fernandez, Darwin Nunez and Goncalo Ramos for huge profits in recent years.

This could be useful for Newcastle at the moment as it is widely understood that they have Financial Fair Play concerns that could lead to them having to offload some players this summer.

Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Sven Botman could be some names to watch, and Braz may be ideal to ensure Newcastle get favourable negotiations going for them.