Newcastle-linked van Bronckhorst reportedly on Manchester City radar

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With Newcastle United second-bottom in the Premier League and going into this week off the back of a 5-0 defeat to Leicester City, the Magpies faithful would be forgiven for being more convinced than ever that Steve Bruce was not the right man to appoint in the summer.

Whoever replaced Rafa Benitez faced an incredibly difficult task. Benitez was loved on Tyneside, and it does appear, now more than ever, that he worked miracles with the squad that he had.

Worryingly for Bruce, Newcastle face Manchester United and Chelsea in their next two games. Neither side is flying this season. But it is difficult to see the Magpies getting anything from either game right now.

It would be interesting to know whether the Newcastle board feel they made a mistake appointing Bruce. Publicly, they would surely suggest not.

However, following reports at the weekend, perhaps they may be a lot more concerned that they made a big error.

The Daily Mirror has reported that Manchester City have signed Giovanni van Bronckhorst up as they look to prepare for Pep Guardiola’s future departure.

It does not seem to be set in stone that the Dutchman will be Guardiola’s successor. But it does appear that the job may be van Bronckhorst’s to lose at this stage.

Did Newcastle make a big error?

Remarkably, he could have already been managing in the Premier League by now – had Newcastle decided to take a gamble.

The Chronicle reported back in July that the Magpies rejected the former Arsenal full-back. Newcastle wanted a manager who had experience of coaching in England’s top flight.

In fairness to the Magpies, the decision to turn down van Bronckhorst did not appear to be a controversial one at the time.

Despite his success with Feyenoord, it would have been a risk. And this Newcastle side is going to test a coach’s ability in a different way to how Manchester City’s squad will when Guardiola steps aside.

But with the Cityzens seeing van Bronckhorst’s potential and Bruce hardly proving to be an inspired appointment, perhaps Newcastle should have, at least, considered the 44-year-old for the job rather than swiftly dismissed his interest due to his lack of experience.