NEWCASTLE UNITED have held a further round of discussions with Eddie Howe, and are close to confirming the former Bournemouth manager’s appointment as their new head coach.

Howe is understood to be close to agreeing the terms of a two-and-a-half year contract that will see him succeed Steve Bruce, with Newcastle’s ownership group having turned to him after Unai Emery rejected an offer to move to Tyneside earlier this week.

Amanda Staveley and her advisors are hoping to be in a position to confirm Howe’s arrival ahead of Saturday evening’s game at Brighton, although they are understandably reluctant to take anything for granted given Emery’s unexpected decision to remain with Villarreal.

At this stage, it remains unclear whether Howe will be in charge at the Amex Stadium even if his appointment is confirmed in the next 24 hours. Graeme Jones has taken charge of training this week and is due to conduct press duties tomorrow afternoon. Whatever happens, he will have a significant input into Saturday’s game as he is already understood to have settled on his preferred starting line-up.

Jones will remain part of Newcastle’s backroom set-up, although Howe is set to be reunited with a number of the coaches and technical staff who worked with him at Bournemouth.

He is keen to rekindle his relationship with Jason Tindall, who was his assistant at Bournemouth and is currently a coach at Sheffield United, and is also understood to be pushing for the appointment of coaching duo Simon Weatherstone and Stephen Purchess and sports scientist Dan Hodges.

Staveley and her advisors conducted video interviews with both Emery and Howe last weekend, and while they initially plumped for the former as their preferred choice, reports suggest they were also impressed with the latter’s short-term plans to extricate Newcastle from the bottom three and long-term vision for the development of the club.