Newcastle United's prospective new owners will turn their attention to two other candidates to take over as manager if they fail to tempt Mauricio Pochettino to St James' Park. 

The Magpies are on the verge of being taken over by a group including Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and the change in ownership would be expected to catapult the club up the rich list. 

 



Boss Steve Bruce could be replaced and the prospective owners have already been linked with a host of potential appoinments.

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino is at the top of the list, but Newcastle have two other names in mind if the Argentine will not take over. 
 


According to French outlet Foot Mercato, Newcastle's plan B and plan C are Marseille coach Andre Villas-Boas and Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre.



Newcastle's prospective owners are admirers of the job that Favre has done at Dortmund and can imagine him at St James' Park.

Villas-Boas steered Marseille to second in Ligue 1 this season before the campaign was declared finished and the Portuguese has knowledge of the Premier League, gained at Chelsea and Tottenham.
 

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He has not yet received a signal from Marseille over an extension to his contract, which runs until 2021, and could be tempted by the idea of returning to the Premier League.