Alan Pardew is set to quit Newcastle United and take over as the new manager of Premier League rivals Crystal Palace after being granted permission to speak to his former club about the move on Monday.
Palace are looking for a new coach after sacking Neil Warnock on Saturday and Pardew is on the verge of a surprise return to Selhurst Park now that Newcastle have given Palace the green light to discuss a contract.
It has been reported that Palace will pay a £2 million (Dh11.4m) compensation fee to land Pardew, who still has five years left on his St James’ Park contract.
“Newcastle United can confirm that Crystal Palace have made a formal approach requesting permission to speak to Alan Pardew in relation to their vacant managerial position,” a statement on the club’s website announced.
“Crystal Palace have offered compensation at a level whereby Alan has now been permitted to speak to them.
“As a result of this development today (Monday), Alan will not be at training on Tuesday. Training will be the responsibility of assistant manager John Carver. The Club will make a further announcement in due course.”
Pardew made 128 appearances for Palace between 1988-91 and scored the winning goal in his side’s famous 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals at Villa Park in 1990.
Despite a mounting campaign for his dismissal from a large section of Newcastle supporters, Pardew retained the faith of club owner Mike Ashley.
But although Newcastle are a bigger club than Palace, Pardew has been frustrated by the transfer policy in recent seasons and continuous criticism from a large section of fans to get him out of the job.
Pardew is one of the lowest paid managers in the league and Palace are said to be willing to improve his salary.
And the 53-year-old stoked the speculation over his future by failing to attend the post-match press conference following his side’s 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday.
Palace chairman Steve Parish wants to act swiftly following the departure of Warnock to allow his new manager time to spend in the January transfer window.
The south Londoners are in the relegation zone after Sunday’s 0-0 draw at fellow strugglers QPR, with Keith Millen in charge of Palace in a caretaker capacity for the third time.
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