Manchester United submitting a £70million offer for Lewis Hall should ‘seal the deal’ for the Newcastle United star, as per a report, and he could become Eddie Howe’s first signing at Old Trafford.

Howe has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Michael Carrick in the Man Utd hot seat. Carrick is expected to be sacked after a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth saw his side drop to 16th place in the Premier League table.

United director of football, Jason Wilcox, has chosen Howe as his favoured option to take over from Carrick.

Julian Nagelsmann, Unai Emery, Fabian Hurzeler and Antonio Conte are all on United’s radar, too.

But Sir Jim Ratcliffe is prepared to back Wilcox with the likely appointment of Howe, as things stand.

Sportbible suggested on Sunday that Howe could request the signings of Hall, Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta in January.

Football Insider have now written a report titled: ‘Exclusive: Man United are very keen on signing PL player, £70m will seal Jan deal’.

They claim Hall remains a ‘leading’ left-back target for Man Utd even though he penned a new contract with Newcastle last month. And Man Utd’s interest in Hall is only likely to increase if Howe takes charge.

The report quotes FI journalist Pete O’Rourke as saying: “It’s obviously going to be harder to get Lewis Hall out of Newcastle United.

“But look, United’s interest is still there. The price tag was prohibitive in the summer as well, but United’s interest, I don’t think, will go away any time soon.

“They do like Lewis Hall and see him as somebody who could come in there and become a mainstay for them at left-back for the foreseeable future in that side.

“But he’ll cost at least £70million-plus, probably, due to his contract situation and obviously he’s continuing to enhance his reputation with his performances for Newcastle and England.”

Eddie Howe edging closer to Man Utd move

Sportbible have claimed that Adrien Truffert of Bournemouth could emerge as a backup target for United if Hall remains at St James’ Park.

Our colleagues at TEAMtalk have revealed that Howe’s backroom staff from his time at Newcastle are ready to follow him to Old Trafford, should concrete talks begin with INEOS chiefs.

Sky Sports state that Howe is interested in speaking with Man Utd about the role even though he left Newcastle to ‘recharge’.

But there is certainly risk involved with managing Man Utd. On talkSPORT, Ally McCoist and Jeff Stelling discussed whether players and managers should move there amid the club’s current struggles.

After McCoist claimed players would pick Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool instead, Stelling added: “The same applies to managers. People talk Eddie Howe, if I’m Eddie Howe I’m not going anywhere near this. I know it’s Manchester United.”