Newcastle United desperately need to appoint a director of football but the club's owners will bide their time in a bid to find the right candidate, according to The Athletic journalist Chris Waugh.

The Magpies have already made one key appointment this week, with Eddie Howe being unveiled as the new head coach.

Michael Emenalo, who is known to be a fan of Howe, is reportedly the leading candidate to be named as Newcastle's director of football.

The 56-year-old is being linked with a move to St James' Park having held similar roles at Chelsea and Monaco.

However, the Nigerian is not the only name to have been touted as a contender for the top job and, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein, Marc Overmars has opted to stay with current employers Ajax rather than head to Tyneside.

The report suggests that Overmars had been a frontunner for the role but Dutch giants Ajax were desperate to keep hold of the 48-year-old.

Enter Giveaway

Enter Giveaway

Luis Campos, who has been heavily involved behind the scenes at Monaco and Lille following a lengthy managerial career, is also thought to be under consideration.

It was suggested last month that Newcastle, who are now run by the Saudi Arabia-based Public Investment Fund following a £305million takeover, have also been eyeing Ralf Rangnick.

What has Chris Waugh said about the situation?

Waugh believes comments made by co-owner Amanda Staveley hint it could still be some time before a director of football is appointed.

He told GIVEMESPORT: "I think what we've seen so far is a lot of talk and the buzzword is 'process', which has been used by Staveley and others. 

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"I think they will wait to find the right person and not rush into that. Equally, it seems decisions are going to take time to be signed off by PIF anyway.

"They desperately do need those figures in place. Newcastle needed them under Mike Ashley and he didn't do that previously.

"But, really, what they need in the short-term is Eddie Howe to see them through and comfortably away from the relegation zone and then help build the club. 

"The other fundamentals can be put in place over a bit of a longer period of time."

What else has happened at boardroom level?

Newcastle finally appointed Steve Bruce's successor, following his departure last month, with Howe making the move to St James' Park.

Howe's arrival came despite him originally being seen as an alternative option to first choice candidate Unai Emery.

But the Newcastle hierarchy were left frustrated when Emery took to social media to confirm he would be staying in charge of Villarreal instead of heading back to the Premier League.

It led to Telegraph reporter Luke Edwards claiming Emery's snub was 'embarrassing' for the Magpies' consortium.