Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and managing director Lee Charnley have set their sights solely on sealing the future of manager Rafael Benitez as they take a firm stance on potential replacements, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Magpies’ top brass have all their efforts on keeping the Spaniard on board past the end of his current contract, which expires this summer, and as such have refused to speak with any agents and other managers who are interested in possibly taking the reins at St James’ Park.
It is stated that negotiations between the club and Benitez have been going on since January and that the manager wants guarantees made over the amount of money to be made available to him.
Opinion
It is positive to hear that Newcastle’s chiefs are not being tempted by other names that may be out there but that does not take away from the fact Benitez is yet to pen a new deal on Tyneside. The more time goes on, the more the Magpies’ decision makers might have to consider opening up interviews, although that would almost certainly ruin any chance they have of keeping Benitez on board. He wants to know that the likes of Ashley are committed to giving the club what it needs to hit new heights but so far that does not seem forthcoming. The fact negotiations are said to have been going on since January shows that Benitez is not just going to sign a deal if he does not agree with the plans in place and it is going to take some convincing from Charnley to get the Spaniard’s signature. The only way it seems that the power brokers at Newcastle are going to get what they want is through cold hard cash. Whether that comes Benitez’s way remains to be seen.