OPINION
Rafa Benitez has confirmed that he has held more talks about extending his contract with Newcastle United, in what appears to be the most positive update yet on his future at St James’ Park.
The 59-year-old could be in charge of his final home game as Newcastle manager when his side take on Liverpool on Saturday as his contract is set to expire at the end of the season.
However speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Benitez has offered a mouthwatering update on his situation at St James’ Park, which is news that will surely give goosebumps to all Newcastle supporters.
“I was talking to Lee Charnley. We have had another talk and we will let you know,” he said, as quoted by Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder via his personal Twitter account.
When asked if the talks were positive, Benitez said: “Yeah.”
He was then asked if there will be an announcement on his future soon, to which the Spaniard replied: “We will let you know, at least we have been talking and we can move forward a little bit.”
Rafa on talks: "I was talking to Lee Charnley.
"We have had another talk and we will let you know."Positive?
"Yeah"
Announcement soon?
"We will let you know, at least we have been talking and we can move forward a little bit." #nufc #lfc
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) May 3, 2019
It definitely seems as though a major stride has been taken towards Benitez agreeing a new deal with Newcastle – and that is simply fantastic news for the Tyneside club.
Benitez has been one of the best managers in the Premier League in the last two seasons having led a very sub-standard squad to safety with relative ease.
It has not helped that Mike Ashley’s leadership of the club has been woeful and Benitez has had basically no money to spend on transfers until Ashley sanctioned a £20million spend on Miguel Almiron in January.
Newcastle fans should get news soon on whether or not Benitez will be their manager past the end of this season, and it sure seems as though ahead of the home game against Liverpool on Saturday would be the best time to confirm the news.
Benitez just seems like he is hiding something behind what he said on Friday – maybe the deal is already signed?
It seems as though we will find out soon enough, but this is definitely a very good update for the Magpies faithful.