Camacho Approached About Newcastle Post - Report

That is the incredible claim made by Spanish sports daily Marca who believe that the current Benfica boss' next destination will be the Premier League.

According to the outlandish report, Newcastle made their interest known through Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes and unofficial talks began last month.

Mendes represents some of the biggest names in football, including José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo, and has strong ties with clubs in England.

Camacho is said to have stated his desire to train in the Premier League and has already been tipped to take over a club before the start of the 2008-09 campaign.

Allardyce's departure has led to intense speculation about who the north east giants will approach and Camacho's name has not been mentioned until now.

After plying his trade at Espanyol and Sevilla, Camacho was handed the Spanish national team job in 1998 and he led the country to two World Cup Finals and the European Championships.

The 52-year-old is currently in his second stint in charge of Benfica after spending only a few weeks at the helm of Real Madrid, where he made 414 appearances as a player.

Newcastle have confessed that they may look abroad for their next manager, but Camacho would have to impress at the interview stage if he is to fend off competition from the likes of Kevin Keegan, Didier Deschamps and Mark Hughes.

In fact, Camacho's name does not feature in bookmakers William Hill's top 25 favourites to be given the job.