OPINION
In what has been a massively topsy-turvy season for Newcastle United, manager Rafa Benitez has just dropped the biggest hint yet that he plans to stay at the club beyond the summer.
As quoted by the Chronicle, Benitez has revealed that the Magpies have put in place a new global scouting network in order to unearth the best footballing talent from around the world.
“We have improved and changed the scouting department a little bit in terms of moving people around. We have a lot of systems now with stats. We see games on TV and also have people travelling around Europe and travelling around the world, it depends on the player,” he said.
His comments go on much further that that as he talks about the success of Spanish recruits Mikel Merino and Florian Lejeune this season, along with the scouting being done for next season.
Now, these comments may look innocent enough, but if you look deeper they do suggest that Benitez is beginning to stamp his mark on the club on a wider scale than he has done before.
This in turn would seem to suggest that the Spaniard is not planning on leaving Newcastle anytime soon, with the club beginning to be moulded into the operation that he desires to lead.
After what has been a rocky season for Newcastle in which the club have been put through the ringer by Mike Ashley and have been mired in a relegation fight for most of the campaign, this is the biggest glimmer of hope in a long time.
Ashley’s rocky relationship with Benitez has always meant that there was a possibility of the Spaniard being forced out by the Sports Direct mogul’s way of running the club.
But that does not seem to be the case this summer with Benitez’s remodelled scouting network now on the hunt for the club’s next intake of youth recruits and first-team stars.
All that’s left to do now is for Ashley to draw up a new deal for Benitez, with his current contract set to out in the summer of 2019.
A new Benitez contract would be the best deal the club could strike in 2018, and would allow the Magpies to move on to future that is looking brighter by the day.