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Topics: Girona, Newcastle United, Premier League, Football
Chris Byfield
Newcastle’s owners are interested in a La Liga manager to replace Eddie Howe, it has been claimed.
Howe steered Newcastle to the Carabao Cup and fourth place in the Premier League last term - the first time the Magpies secured a Champions League berth in two decades.
However, their foray into European football’s elite was short-lived, finishing bottom of a group that included Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, while they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Chelsea at the quarter-final stage.
Meanwhile, an injury crisis has seen Newcastle head into the New Year on a run of seven defeats in eight games in all competitions.
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Furthermore, four defeats in their last five Premier League matches have seen the club fall to ninth in the Premier League, some 11 points adrift of the Champions League spots.
In turn, Howe’s position at the Newcastle helm looks precarious, and according to Spanish publication Marca the club’s owners are now looking at replacing the former Bournemouth boss with Girona manager Michel Sanchez.
Sanchez won promotion to La Liga with Girona in his first campaign in charge, before leading the Catalan side to 10th place last term.
However, Girona have defied all expectations this season and are level on points with Real Madrid at the La Liga summit.
The club’s over performance has seen Girona boss Michel catapulted to the attention of several of Europe’s biggest sides.
Barcelona are allegedly considering a move for the former Rayo Vallecano manager as a replacement for Xavi, while given Girona are owned by the same holding company that owns Manchester City, Michel could be a logical replacement for Pep Guardiola.
But Marca claims the Newcastle owners are “looking very seriously” into handing over the reins to Michel.