Role reversal: Newcastle United set to poach Manchester United board member after Dan Ashworth palaver

After Dan Ashworth was poached away from Newcastle United by Sir Jim Ratcliffe following his Manchester United buy-in, the shoe could be about to be on the other foot according to a new report.

Back in September, Newcastle's CEO Darren Eales announced he'd be stepping away from the club following a cancer diagnosis.

Eales still remains in the position as he has vowed to stay on until a replacement is found and the transition is overseen, but since the announcement, things have gone very quiet on the search for a new CEO.

Early on following the initial announcement, former Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham was identified as an early frontrunner, but that was back in October.

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Newcastle are looking at Man United COO Collette Roche for CEO role

Now, six months later a new name has entered the frame in the form of Manchester United's Chief Operating Officer, Collette Roche according to The Telegraph.

Roche has been very involved in Sir Jim Ratcliffe's plan to overhaul Manchester United, including the recent announcement of the £2bn stadium plan.

Roche has followed a similar career path to Newcastle's own Brad Miller, having joined Man United from Manchester Airport, much like Miller, who was in the aviation industry before joining Newcastle as COO.

The decision to appoint a new CEO is still likely to take some time

The report states that there's no indication that Roche is being pushed out of Manchester United despite being the only survivor of the Ratcliffe culling.

We imagine there's still plenty of time to go before Newcastle starts to whittle down their options as it has been reported there has been plenty of interest in the role.

Darren Eales still has quite a while to go on his notice period by all accounts, and the club will want to make sure they get this appointment right to avoid a situation like the one Manchester United found themselves in after poaching Dan Ashworth.