NEWCASTLE UNITED'S attempts to appoint Unai Emery as their new head coach appear to have hit a major snag, with reports in Spain suggesting the Villarreal boss is set to turn down the Magpies.

As of last night, Newcastle's ownership group were confident Emery would agree to succeed Steve Bruce, and had even pencilled in a training session for Thursday afternoon to enable him to meet the players and begin preparations for Saturday's game at Brighton.

However, as the evening unfolded, it became clear that the situation was not as advanced as was being indicated, with Emery's post-match comments after Villarreal's Champions League win over Young Boys having further complicated matters.

While the former Arsenal boss confirmed there had been contact from Newcastle, he denied there had been a contract offer and made no assurances about his willingness to move to Tyneside.

Reports across the Spanish media this morniong have gone a step further, suggesting Emery has decided to stay with Villarreal. Spanish media outlets claim he has informed the Villarreal board of his decision and is planning to be in charge of his current employers' weekend game with Getafe.

It has been suggested that Emery is disappointed at the way in which news of Newcastle's interest leaked out on the morning of Villarreal's Champions League game, and harbours doubts about the viability of the project that was presented to him over the weekend.

These Spanish reports are unsubstantiated, but Amanda Staveley and her advisors are understood to be aware of them and are currently engaged in a frantic round of telephone conversations.

Newcastle are willing to pay a €6m compensation fee to trigger a buyout clause in Emery's contract, and are understood to be ready to pay the Spaniard around £6m-a-year to take over on Tyneside.

If Emery turns them down, Newcastle will switch their attention to Eddie Howe, who was also interviewed by video call over the weekend.

Howe, who has been out of work since his departure from Bournemouth, would be willing to step into the breach immediately.