Ex-Nottingham Forest and Bolton man tipped to replace Dan Ashworth in key deal with Premier League rivals

Newcastle United's hunt for a new sporting director is reportedly close to reaching its conclusion, with former Nottingham Forest and Bolton boss Dougie Freedman emerging as the lead contender.

The Magpies have been searching for a sporting director since Dan Ashworth’s bombshell decision to leave the club for Manchester United in February. As it stands, the 53-year-old is on gardening leave as the discussion regarding a compensation package continues to drag on.

Meanwhile, with the summer transfer window on the horizon, Newcastle are keen to appoint a successor to help Eddie Howe navigate his way through his sixth transfer window at St. James’ Park.

Numerous high-profile names have been linked with the post including ex-Monaco chief Paul Mitchell, Brentford’s Peter Giles and even an eye-catching move for AC Milan icon Paolo Maldini. However, the most likely candidate, based on reports from Mail Sport appears to be Crystal Palace’s sporting director Freedman.

The 49-year-old, who was recently lauded by the club’s former owner Simon Jordan, is regarded as a Crystal Palace hero due to two previous spells at the club - one as player between 2000 and 2008 and the second as manager between 2011 and 2012 as he steered the Eagles away from the Championship drop zone after fears of relegation.

The Glaswegian remained in management for four further years, but following mixed spells in the Championship with Bolton and Nottingham Forest, he opted for a new career behind the scenes and assumed the role of sporting director back at Selhurst Park.

Why do Newcastle want Dougie Freedman as sporting director?

Dougie Freedman arrived at Crystal Palace at a time when the club were struggling in the league during the short-lived tenure of Frank de Boer.

The Eagles were expected to struggle at the bottom of the table, but due to a strong recruitment team, spearheaded by Freedman they were able to consistently acquire talented players for nominal fees that were able to drag the club away from trouble.

Some of the notable accusations from Freedman’s time at Palace include the likes of Jordan Aye (£2.5m), Eberechi Eze (£16m), Michael Olise (£8m), Marc Guehi (£18m), Joachim Andersen (£17m) and Adam Wharton (£22m).

An agent familiar with Freedman, speaking with The Athletic, described his recruitment as ‘not only big on talent, but on mentality and attitude.’

They added: “He tends to avoid players he thinks are a big-time Charlie. He’s concise with his summary. He is very focused and always wants the next player, the next big thing, people who are on the rise.”