Newcastle have appointed Liverpool analyst Mark Leyland to their backroom staff, according to reports.
The boyhood Reds fan, 36, is thought to have left Anfield after eight years of service to join their mega-rich Premier League rivals.
Leyland previously worked with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe at Burnley during his short spell in charge of the Lancashire club a decade ago.
It's believed Liverpool's head of post-match and elite player development analysis has taken on a hybrid role at St James' Park.
Leyland will reportedly coach the players and collate performance data, as Newcastle look to avoid relegation.
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The Toon are currently 19th in the Premier League after winning just one of their first 16 games, three points behind Watford in 17th.
Newcastle's next three fixtures are against Leyland's former club Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
According to The Independent, Leyland has already started his new role at St James' Park.
He is said to have left with the blessing of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and assistant Pep Lijnders, who both wanted him to stay but accepted the promotion was too good of an opportunity to turn down.
"We cover all aspects of live match and post-match analysis," said Leyland when discussing his Liverpool job with the club's website.
"Our job after a game revolves around us breaking down the game into team aspects and individual player aspects relating to the manager’s philosophy.
"We database statistics and video in relation to how the manager wants our team to play - both good things, and in areas to improve.
"We then feed that back to players, as individuals and as a team.... We make video examples of things the coaches would like to see.
"We relay that through Peter [Krawietz, assistant manager] at half-time in the changing room on a big screen... we use around two minutes of video clips.
"After the game we’ll have anything available that the manager or coaches want to see, through our wide-angled, tactical cameras and broadcast footage."
Speaking in July 2020 after Liverpool won their first league title in 30 years, Klopp was keen to praise the impact of his backroom staff.
"They are not in public, but they are massive," he told the club's website.
"I am not sure, but I never understood it 100 per cent why people make a cut [on] who gets a medal and who does not get a medal, but the medal you get is here [head] and maybe here [heart].
"It is not too important if you really have [a physical medal] in the end because you don't look at it every day.
"It is much more important that you are involved and that we show the appreciation and respect we have for all the people who were involved in that process.
"It is not important, but for a player, for example, maybe it's more important than other people who are involved in it.
"We will find a way to show how much we appreciate what everyone has done. If there is a medal needed for it, then we will create our own one.
"We will never forget it anyway, so all good."
