Report: Three names in the frame as Newcastle to interview for Dan Ashworth's replacement next week

Newcastle United are closing in on their replacement for Dan Ashworth as the former sporting director's move to Manchester United sits in limbo.

It was reported yesterday that Newcastle's search for a new sporting director had stepped up a gear and that the interview process was set to start next week.

At the time we weren't sure who was on the list but The Daily Mail has reported there are now just three people in the frame for the job.

In fact, the trio have already had three interviews regarding the role with next week set to be the final round.

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Three candidates remain in Newcastle's search for a sporting director

The three candidates left are Paul Mitchell, the former Monaco director who has been linked with the role for a while, the former Roma chief Tiago Pinto and Benfica's Rui Pedro Braz.

Benfica have been masters of printing money by bringing through young players and turning them into bankable stars which would be a fantastic way for Newcastle to break down those FFP barriers. Selling academy players is classed as pure profit in FFP terms, so would unlock a lot of spending potential.

Paul Mitchell has been renowned in the game for years after impressive spells at Southampton and Tottenham where he brought in the likes of Son Heung-min and Kieran Trippier.

We won't have to wait much longer to find out who gets the job

We have question marks over Tiago Pinto despite him overseeing the Europa Conference League win with Jose Mourinho. He has seen success at a young age, but we're not convinced he's ready for the task that faces him at Newcastle.

However, we're not the ones who have interviewed him three times so he must be doing something right.

Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer to see who is taking over Dan Ashworth's office for the foreseeable future.