Journalist George Caulkin has dropped a major update, regarding Newcastle's pursuit of a new manager.

What's the talk?

The Athletic reporter has claimed that PIF will not be appointing Portuguese head coach Paulo Fonseca to replace Steve Bruce at St. James' Park.

A recent report stated that Newcastle were set to offer him a contract after he impressed in an interview with the club, but Caulkin has made it clear that he will not be in the dugout on Tyneside anytime soon.

He told the Pod on the Tyne podcast for The Athletic:

“I have been told that it won’t be Fonseca; I’ve been told that now, a couple of times, but I’m not saying that as a definitive thing.”

Buzzing

Newcastle fans could leave fans buzzing as it appears to increase the chances of the club sealing a deal for Ajax manager Erik ten Hag. The previous report made it seem as though Fonseca was the favourite for the role, with the club willing to offer him a deal.

However, Caulkin's claim leaves the rumour pretty much dead in the water.

It does not get much clearer than 'it won't be Fonseca' and this leaves Newcastle fans to get excited about who it could be instead.

The Portuguese head coach has an impressive C.V and PIF ultimately opting against a swoop for his services could hint at the standard of manager they believe they can attract.

Fonseca won 1.77 points per game with Roma in the Serie A during a two-year spell with the Italian giants and won three league titles in three years at Shakhtar Donetsk prior to his spell in Italy.

This suggests that he can handle the pressure of expectation at tops clubs, with impressive results on the whole for Shakhtar and Roma.

The club have been linked with a move for Ajax manager ten Hag and this update on Fonseca could play into the reports that the Magpies are keen on the Dutchman, which fans will be delighted with.

He has won two Eredivisie titles with Ajax and reached the Champions League quarter-final and semi-final, despite selling the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Hakim Ziyech and Donny van de Beek along the way.

Ten Hag has won 2.15 points per game across 204 Eredivisie matches in charge of Utrecht and Ajax and his proven track record of success under difficult circumstances shows that he could be a great appointment. This is why Newcastle fans could be buzzing with this update from Caulkin, as it leaves the door ajar for the Dutchman to walk through.

AND in other news, Bruce's legacy: "Immense" NUFC dynamo has seen his value plummet £9.9m in two years...