Next Newcastle United manager betting: Arteta and Ranieri head the market for St James' Park vacancy

The season has yet to begin and a Premier League club are already on the hunt for a new manager.

Newcastle United announced that Rafael Benitez would be leaving St James' Park on June 30 after failing to agree a contract extension that would keep the 59-year-old in the north east next term.

With the market having had a few days to form since the news broke, 888Sport make Mikel Arteta their Even money (2.0) favourite to take over.

Arteta is currently assistant coach at Manchester City and was strongly linked with the Arsenal job before Unai Emery was appointed in 2018.

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The 37-year-old spent over a decade in the Premier League as a player but has limited experience on the touchline compared with some of the other candidates linked to the vacancy, particularly the current second favourite, Claudio Ranieri.

Ranieri is available at 6/4 (2.50) to take over at St James' Park and is a free agent after leaving his interim role at Roma at the end of the season. The Italian led Leicester City to an historic top-flight title in 2016 but left the Foxes the following campaign after a series of disappointing results.

Ranieri's most recent foray into the English top-flight ended in poor style too as he was sacked by Fulham after just 17 matches in charge at Craven Cottage.

Patrick Vieira is currently managing Nice and has just completed his first season in charge of the Ligue 1 outfit. The former Arsenal and Manchester City player is 13/2 (7.50) to make his Premier League managerial debut by taking charge of the Magpies.

Eddie Howe, Garry Monk and David Moyes are all available at 9/1 (10.0) with 888Sport. Howe has often drawn plaudits for his work at Bournemouth, who have become Premier League regulars under the 41-year-old's stewardship.

A major issue for Newcastle could be the ongoing speculation regarding owner Mike Ashley looking to sell the club, and the subsequent lack of financial support until any such sale is completed.

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With that in mind it could be difficult to convince managers currently employed elsewhere to turn their attentions to the role, despite the club's impressive fan base and foundations within the English game.

Outgoing boss Benitez often appeared frustrated with the ownership situation as well as a lack of funds to spend in the transfer market although Miguel Almiron did arrive in January for a club record fee of £21 million.

Sean Dyche is a 10/1 (11.0) chance to swap Burnley for Tyneside while Gennaro Gattuso is 11/1 (12.0) after leaving Milan recently, the same price as Claude Puel and Avram Grant. Chris Hughton is 12/1 (13.0) to take charge of the club for a second time having been sacked by Brighton at the end of last season.

Some more unlikely candidates include initial favourite Jose Mourinho who is now 16/1 (17.0), Luciano Spalletti (17/1) and Steven Gerrard (20/1).

Newcastle are currently 7/2 (4.50) to be relegated with 888Sport. The Magpies begin their Premier League campaign on August 11 against Arsenal at St James' Park.

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