Newcastle United have been warned appointing Paulo Fonseca as their next manager is "a risk" after Steve Bruce's departure.
Alan Hutton told Football Insider that a Premier League relegation fight will be like nothing Fonseca has ever faced before.
The Portuguese head coach is one of a number of individuals to have spoken with the Magpies, and the former AS Roma boss is reportedly keen on accepting Newcastle's offer.
Go here for the latest breaking Newcastle United takeover updates
However, the former Shakhtar Donetsk manager has only managed outside of his native country on two occasions and there are question marks over his ability to guide Newcastle away from relegation.
The 48-year-old has a growing reputation in Europe as an upcoming coach after guiding Shakhtar to three consecutive league and cup doubles.
Fonseca guided Roma to the semi-final of the Europa League and has a reputation for attacking, free flowing football.
However, Newcastle need to guarantee Premier League survival before allowing to dream bigger.
Speaking to Football Insider about appointing Fonseca as manager, Hutton said: "I think it’s a risk.
“I know he’s got that pedigree from managing at a big club like Roma. He understands the pressures that entails.
“But I don’t think he’s in been in a relegation fight, especially not in the Premier League. I think that’s really difficult. Obviously, at Roma there’s a lot of pressure there. It’s probably like Newcastle as well.
“The fans are on you, it’s like a pressure cooker at times. First and foremost, you have to stay in this league. Your owners could be worth hundreds of billions and you could be talking about signing X, Y and Z.
“But by Christmas, with the fixtures that they’ve got, they could be way down in the bottom three, stuck. This is massive.
“Whoever comes in has to hit the ground running. We’re talking about a guy who doesn’t know the league, doesn’t know the players yet, doesn’t know what it’s all about.
“Of course he’ll learn, but have you got that time? So I would probably like to see somebody who has been there and done it. Who knows what it’s all about. But look, I’m not in charge.”
