Manchester City now looking at ex-Newcastle player for key role behind the scenes

Manchester City are embarking on a journey to find a new director of football after Txiki Begiristain announced he'd be leaving the role at the end of the season.

Newcastle United had a similar task on their hands over the summer as they looked for a replacement for Dan Ashworth who had defected to Manchester United.

One man that Newcastle had in mind was a former player of theirs, now the sporting director for Sporting CP in Portugal, Hugo Viana.

The versatile Portuguese midfielder made 61 appearances for Newcastle between 2002-2004 but despite a couple of decent showings, failed to make a real impact at the club.

Now a director of football, Viana has definitely found his calling being the man behind some of Sporting's recent quality signings such as Viktor Gyokeres and Ousmane Diomande, both of whom have been on Newcastle's radar.

Viana was approached by Newcastle but he rejected a return to St James' Park before Newcastle moved on to Dougie Freedman and eventually Paul Mitchell.

Now, according to Fabrizio Romano, Viana is Manchester City's first choice to replace Begiristain.

Viana has an excellent record at Sporting so it's no shock that Newcastle approached him, but it may be a case that Manchester City could be too good of an offer to turn down for the 41-year-old.

It would have been nice to have someone who knows the club in the sporting director seat, and who knows how much differently things would have panned out had Viana agreed to return to the club.

What's done is done, though, and we would not be at all surprised to see Viana take up the mantle after Begiristain steps down.