Saudis consider Man Utd legend for NUFC role as six contenders are revealed in new report

Another report has emerged that backs Michael Emenalo to become to new sporting director at St James' Park - but it seems he's not the only name in the running.

Writing for 90min, former Sky Sports reporter Graeme Bailey has revealed that Newcastle United have considered five other candidates for the role.

Four of these have been linked before - Marc Overmars, Luis Campos, Ralf Rangnick and Jason Wilcox - however the fifth is believed to be former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

The 51-year-old became the marketing director at Ajax soon after retiring in 2011, but has been the chief executive of the Dutch giants for almost five years now.

Overmans, who looks set to reject our interest and remain in Holland (according to The Athletic), has actually been working alongside van der Sar as the club's director of football, however the current Ajax CEO has been tipped to become a sporting director himself in the coming years.

So, Emenalo is being tipped to land the job on Tyneside and is said to have impressed our new owners during talks in Saudi Arabia last week, but it seems we have plenty high-profile alternatives lined up should we fail to strike a deal with the former Chelsea chief.