Newcastle have been urged to forget about appointing Mauricio Pochettino as their manager, with Rafael Benitez favoured by former striker Michael Chopra.
The St James’ Park club have been the subject of takeover speculation this summer, with Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman closing in on taking a controlling stake in the club.
With the new regime, it is expected that there will be a change at the helm of the first team, with Steve Bruce expected to make way for a new man.
Both Pochettino and Benitez have been linked with the post, but Chopra prefers the Spaniard over the Argentine, who took Tottenham to the Champions League final and helped them to second in the Premier League but ultimately came up short when it came to ending the club’s trophy drought.
“I would go for Benitez over Pochettino,” the manager of Chinese Super League side Dalian Pro explained to the Daily Star.
“Pochettino built up Tottenham from pretty much nothing, got them to the Champions League final and on the verge of winning the Premier League.
“But the only thing going against him is he didn't win anything - which puts me off a bit.
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“With Benitez, he's got unfinished business. He did well at the club and had a great relationship with the fans. He just wanted a bit more money to try and push them into the top 10.
“Benitez has already got plans for the football club and at almost every team he's been at he's won trophies.”
Indeed, Chopra, who was born in Newcastle and has a strong attachment to the local area, explained the former Real Madrid manager has a style to his game that the team is currently lacking.
“Newcastle are hard to manage because you have to get the fans on your side quickly - but Benitez managed to do exactly that,” he said.
“I've got friends who don't enjoy it any more with Bruce trying to nick a 1-0. It's not entertaining, it's not football and it's not Newcastle.”
Meanwhile, Chopra does not believe that the likes of Gareth Bale and Philippe Coutinho would prove out of the club’s reach if fresh money is injected into the team.
“Money talks when you want to sign players and ultimately you're going to have to pay them more to attract them to the north east. But if you've got the money it's not a problem,” he said.
“I don't think Coutinho or Bale would turn down the opportunity. Newcastle are a big club and they could be part of this next chapter.”
