Rafa Benitez's Newcastle United contract expires tonight - and the Magpies hierarchy will step-up their search to replace their out-going manager once his St James' Park employment officially ceases.
Managing director Lee Charnley has already started the process of identifying candidates to take over at St James' Park, but no official approaches have yet been made.
Newcastle are still in the process of whittling down a long list of names before targets are contacted in the coming days, and formal interviews could yet take place, too.
Although the Magpies did state during the statement they released last Monday in which they confirmed Benitez's impending departure that they would begin the recruitment process, they have made a point of not rushing into making approaches.
That is partly because Benitez's deal is yet to expire, but also due to the fact United had focused their full efforts on reaching an extension agreement with their current manager, and Newcastle did not have any contingency plans in place for his departure.
MD Charnley is keen to conduct a thorough recruitment process to ensure Newcastle identify the right candidate for the role, although he would prefer to have a new permanent manager in position by the time United fly to China for the Premier League Asia Trophy in a fortnight's time.
As things stand, Under-23 head coach Neil Redfearn is the favourite to take temporary charge of pre-season training when the first-team squad reassemble at Benton on Thursday - and there would need to be a dramatic development for United to avoid the necessity of installing a caretaker to oversee initial preparations for the new campaign.
There have been claims that Newcastle will look to appoint a 'head coach' - the same title Steve McClaren was given in 2015 - as opposed to a 'manager', although the club have not confirmed that. However, whoever succeeds Benitez is expected to be asked to follow the club's preferred recruitment model of primarily signing players under the age of 26.
Patrick Vieira, Mikel Arteta, Sergio Conceicao, Sean Dyche and Steven Gerrard are among the names who have been linked with Newcastle, but no official approaches have yet been made.
Meanwhile, Benitez himself is understood to be seriously considering a £12million-a-year after-tax offer - more than double his Magpies salary - to join Dalian Yifang in China, and the 59-year-old could move to East Asia in the coming days.
Although Benitez had always maintained that his preference was to stay at St James' Park, negotiations with Newcastle broke down about a week-and-a-half ago.
Benitez, who has rejected previous lucrative offers from Saudi Arabian and Chinese clubs, will be a free agent by Monday and is therefore able to negotiate with Dalian from then.
