Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez is not interested in making a shock exit from the club to take over as boss of the Spanish national side, according to the Chronicle.
The newspaper state that the former Liverpool man is happy and settled on Tyneside and wishes to remain in club football for the near-future, despite the Northern Echo linking him with a stunning departure to become the new head coach of the Spain side to replace Julen Lopetegui.
Benitez joined Newcastle back in 2016 and has a contract which runs until next summer, with much speculation over whether he will pen a new deal at St James’ Park.
It is stated that he still holds aspirations of heading into international management but that it is a long-term ambition, dealing a boost to the Magpies’ hopes of keeping him at the club.
Opinion
There would be few Newcastle supporters who would feel any sort of resentment towards Benitez if he were to take on the Spain job, and it is probably the only exit that the Toon Army would be happy to sanction. Still, Rafa certainly has a couple more years in club football yet and there will be hopes that is at St James’ Park. His project on Tyneside is only just beginning and he has a lot of work to carry out before he can think about leaving the Magpies in a state where he would be happy to depart. However, with just a year on his contract, and Mike Ashley still in charge, there is no certainty he will be given the chance to see those plans through, despite the desperate hopes of the supporters. Still, at least this is another tempting opportunity for Benitez that he will seemingly rebuff, giving everyone at the club increased hope he will be there for the long-term.