An update has emerged on Newcastle United's search for a director of football to work with Eddie Howe at St James' Park.

What's the talk?

The Athletic reporter George Caulkin has revealed that the Magpies have hired Nick Hammond as a recruitment consultant to help them get through the January transfer window. The journalist also claimed that the board have hired a company to come in and find a director of football to sculpt the club moving forward.

He tweeted: "As reported elsewhere, #NUFC have taken on a third-party recruitment company to handle Sporting Director / DoF search (the board did manager hunt). It’s the model they’re committed to, though. 'We need someone to build the club,' a senior source says."

Fans will be delighted

Newcastle fans will surely be delighted with this news as it shows that the board have taken it upon themselves to go out and find experts to conduct the search, rather than doing it without any prior experience or knowledge of finding a sporting director. This could duly increase the chances of the appointment being a success as they are expanding their search beyond their own personal means.

Supporters could also be buzzing with the first part of this update as the appointment of Hammond means that they will not be left in the lurch for the January transfer window. Whilst a permanent director of football/sporting director will not be in place, they have at least brought in Hammond to assist Howe in order to ensure that they do not fail in the market.

The Magpies are in dire need of a few new signings to bolster their squad, as their start to the season has been abysmal. After 17 Premier League matches, Newcastle are 19th in the table and have only won one game, whilst conceding the most goals of any team in the division, and they are on their way to being relegated unless their form turns around.

This also illustrates why Caulkin's claim that they want someone to 'build the club' could leave fans delighted. Their current situation shows that they are in a desperate position in terms of their problems on the pitch and a new director of football will need to make drastic changes in order to turn things around, which appears to be the route Newcastle are heading towards with this update.

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