Newcastle United are making progress towards bringing in a new sporting director by the end of the season, according to the Chronicle.
Dan Ashworth continues to be on gardening leave as Manchester United look to try and negotiate him out of his Newcastle contract.
The Magpies want a big compensation fee and want to avoid watching him join the Red Devils before the end of the next transfer window.
Newcastle are also very much in the middle of their own process of bringing in a replacement for Ashworth.
It has been claimed that Newcastle are hoping to appoint a new sporting director by the end of the season.
Recruitment specialists Odgers Berndtson have been hired to carry out the process of identifying a new sporting director for Newcastle.
Newcastle have already spoken to a number of candidates including former Monaco chief Paul Mitchell and Benfica sporting director Rui Pedro Braz.
More progress is expected to be made in the coming weeks with a view to having a man in place before the season ends.
