NEW YORK — Newcastle United have been reported to the Premier League by Championship club Sheffield Wednesday over the appointment of the Owls' former manager Steve Bruce.

The much-traveled Bruce, 58, quit the Yorkshire club last Monday following talks with Newcastle, who named him as manager on Wednesday to replace the departed Rafa Benitez.

Second tier side Wednesday responded by saying they were disappointed to hear the news of Bruce's appointment via a public statement and were taking legal advice.

The Yorkshire club issued a statement on their website on Monday which said:

"Following Newcastle United’s announcement on 17 July 2019 of its appointment of former Sheffield Wednesday staff Steve Bruce, Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence, the Club confirms that it has today reported Newcastle United’s conduct to the Premier League.

"As the Premier League will now initiate and carry out investigations into the Club’s allegations, the Club will not be commenting further on this matter whilst such investigations are ongoing."

Ex-Sunderland and Aston Villa boss Bruce, who is a Newcastle fan and now in charge of his 10th club, having had two spells at Wigan Athletic, was the manager at Wednesday for 18 games after taking over on Feb. 1 following Jos Luhukay's sacking.

The former Manchester United defender only suffered three defeats at Wednesday and steered them to a 12th place finish. — Reuters