Manager confirms he was close to getting Newcastle United job

Newcastle United fans must be delighted with the job that Eddie Howe has done since arriving as the manager of the club. Not too long ago, they had looked like one of the favourites to be relegated. But now, there is a chance that The Magpies could end up finishing in the top half of the Premier League table. They have been one of the most in-form teams in Europe since the turn of the year.

Thus, it is safe to say that the manager deserves tremendous credit for the job that he has done at Newcastle United. His arrival has certainly had the desired effect.

But it is easy to forget that Howe was not the first manager who was linked with the Newcastle United job after Steve Bruce was shown the exit door.

One of the names which had been linked with a move to St James’ Park was that of Paulo Fonseca. And the former AS Roma manager has revealed that he was close to Newcastle United as well as Tottenham Hotspur. As reported by il Romanista, he said:

"“At the beginning of the season I was very close to Tottenham but that didn’t materialize, as well as with Newcastle.”"

Fonseca confirms that he was close to Newcastle United job

Rumours had suggested that Newcastle United had been impressed by Fonseca after his talks with the club but the move never materialised.

Fonseca is a very good manager, who has had spells at clubs like Shakhtar Donetsk, AS Roma, FC Porto, SC Braga and several other clubs over the years. Thus, it is very possible that he could have ended up being a solid choice for the Newcastle United job.

But at the end of the day, the fans must be very happy with the decision that the club ended up making by bringing in Howe. It is hard to imagine many other managers could have done a better job than the Englishman has over the past several months.