Newcastle United are set to bring in Sunderland coach Elliott Dickman as their new Under-23 boss.
It's understood that the wheels were already in motion for the long-serving Wearsider's appointment before the club's takeover.
Dickman's arrival comes two years after Newcastle drafted in another Sunderland employee in Mark Atkinson who has served as the club's assistant head of coaching.
The 43-year-old was the long serving Under-18s boss of the Black Cats before moving up to Under-23s level in 2017.
However, since Ben Dawson moved up the ladder to the club's senior base, Atkinson has grown more influential alongside head of the Academy Steve Harper.
The second string have been looked after by Kevin Richardson in the last few games, losing their last encounter 3-2 to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
United's new director Amanda Staveley has already vowed to perform a root and branch review of the club's Academy and youth system.
There has also been talk of a new director of football but the appointment of Dickman looks set to go through and could be confirmed in due course.
With no head coach in place, the decision to finally replace Chris Hogg, who left two months ago, is one that was urgently required.
