Paulo Fonseca isn't as close to the Newcastle United job as has been made out in some quarters, The Athletic's George Caulkin has warned. 

The lowdown

Newcastle are looking to appoint a new manager after parting company with Steve Bruce and leaving assistant Graeme Jones in temporary charge.

There had been 'a suggestion' that Fonseca was 'on the verge' of taking over at St James' Park prior to Newcastle's weekend clash with Crystal Palace after he held talks with the new owners (via The Daily Mail).

Fonseca has been out of work since the end of last season when he left Serie A outfit AS Roma on the expiry of his contract.

The latest

In a tweet which seems to have gone unnoticed, Caulkin reiterated that talks had indeed taken place between the consortium and the Portuguese.

But he also said that, according to his information, the move isn't in its final stages.

"Well, they've spoken to him a couple of times, we know that," he wrote. "But I was also told today that nothing is as far advanced as has been said. Let's see."

The update has gone under the radar due to it being a reply to a fan as part of a long thread - it has just two retweets despite Caulkin having 90,000+ followers.

The verdict

How much longer can Newcastle afford to wait? Well, the international break is approaching and that might be a sensible juncture for transition.

Even if a new boss was to be installed this week, you could argue he'd have little hope of getting a result against league leaders Chelsea.

But Newcastle also face Brighton and Hove Albion before the domestic season pauses, and they're in desperate need of points after failing to win any of their first nine games.

In other news, Erik ten Hag has been given this advice.