REMI GARDE is keen to join Newcastle United as the club’s new head coach – and is hoping to speak to managing director Lee Charnley this week to confirm his interest in the position.

With Derby County manager Steve McClaren having firmly ruled himself out of the running yesterday afternoon, Garde has emerged as the new favourite to replace Alan Pardew at St James’ Park.

The Frenchman has been out of work since leaving his former position in charge of Lyon for personal reasons in May, but is keen to return to coaching after a seven-month hiatus.

He is understood to be aware of Newcastle’s strengthening interest in securing his services, with sources in France claiming he has briefed those around him that he is willing to move to Tyneside.

Mike Ashley has delegated the responsibility for choosing Pardew’s successor to Charnley and chief scout Graham Carr, with the latter known to be a strong admirer of Garde’s work with Lyon.

The 48-year-old, who made 30 appearances for Arsenal during a player career that was mainly concentrated at Lyon and Strasbourg, spent eight years as Lyon’s assistant manager working under Claude Puel, Paul Le Guen, Gerard Houllier and Alain Perrin.

During his time as number two, he helped Lyon win 11 trophies, and after stepping up to lead the club in June 2011, he presided over another Coupe de France triumph.

Crucially, he operated as part of a wider recruitment team at Lyon, with the club’s transfer policy largely being dictated by sporting director Bernard Lacombe and president Jean-Michel Aulas.

That experience means he would not be perturbed by the current arrangement at Newcastle, which sees Carr and Charnley playing a prominent role in recruitment issues, and he is understood to be willing to operate within the parameters that Ashley is looking to establish for the ‘head coach’ role.

His immediate availability, without the need for any hefty compensation, is another appealing factor playing in his favour, and with Charnley determined to make significant progress before the weekend, there is expected to be formal contact between Garde and senior Newcastle officials within the next 48 hours.

The former defender is not the only overseas candidate currently interesting the Magpies, however, with St Etienne’s Christophe Galtier still not ruled out of the equation despite his recent insistence that he would not be leaving his current employers before the end of the season at the earliest.

German Thomas Tuchel, who stepped down from his previous post at Mainz last spring, is another continental coach receiving serious consideration, and while he has previously stated an unwillingness to return to work before the summer, he could find it difficult to resist an offer to move to Newcastle given the lack of alternative offers to have come his way this season.

Former Newcastle forward Temuri Ketsbaia was the major mover in the betting markets yesterday – with his odds being slashed from 33-1 to 10-1 with most bookmakers – but the chances of McClaren taking over at St James’ have receded considerably following yet another public rejection of the possibility of joining the Magpies.

Having delivered something of a non-committal statement when he was asked about the Newcastle job at the weekend, McClaren could hardly have been more unequivocal as he underlined his ongoing commitment to Derby yesterday.

“Sam Rush (Derby chief executive) spoke to me about three times last week and I said to him then, ‘Look, don’t worry, I am going nowhere’,” said McClaren. “I have got a job to do here. I don’t want to let people down here.

“You’ve got to show loyalty. Derby have given me a great opportunity. They have backed me and Sam, and the owners have been fantastic.

“We have asked players to commit to long contracts to take Derby forward, and the staff as well. We are building here and I want to see the job through.

“I love it here. I don’t want to let people down and there is no question of that, despite all the rumours. These things are going to crop up with players and staff, and it can’t derail us.

“Our objective is to push for the Premier League and we feel we are in a good position to do that. I don’t want to let people down on that. The supporters have been fantastic with me from day one. There is nothing in my mind that says I am going anywhere.”

John Carver is expected to remain in caretaker charge of Newcastle for Saturday’s game at Chelsea, and the former assistant will be free to select Moussa Sissoko after senior Magpies sources strongly rejected suggestions in France that Paris St Germain were in advanced talks for the midfielder.

Steven Taylor will not be involved at Stamford Bridge, and remains extremely unlikely to play again this season as he prepares to undergo Achilles surgery in a private London hospital later today.