OPINION
Newcastle fans are used to torturous summers. But this one could take the biscuit. After a brief flash of optimism, after the Sun broke the news of a potential big-money takeover, things have reverted to the mean… and then some.
Talk around the takeover has stopped – which in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, albeit frustrating for the fans – and manager Rafa Benitez still hasn’t signed a new contract, with less than a fortnight left to run on his current deal.
There’s more bad news for Newcastle fans, too, from the Times on Tuesday. They report that Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang have made a £12million-a-year offer (double his current deal at Newcastle) to Benitez to take charge of the club.
Dalian Yifang are backed by Wang Jianlin, worth £17.2billion according to Forbes. Haggling for players, something Benitez has had to suffer at Newcastle over the past few windows, shouldn’t be a problem there.
However, Benitez and Newcastle are linked. He has a lot of feeling for the club and the fans adore him.
So why the stalemate over his contract at St James’ Park? The uncertainty over the takeover can’t help and the summer transfer window is already open. How much money would he have to spend if the takeover goes through? And if it doesn’t? These are questions Benitez will want the answers to before he signs. However, those answers might not be possible in the next two weeks.
Newcastle heavyweight journalist George Caulkin has labeled the latest big-money offer for Benitez “a big concern” and he’s right. Benitez must be getting tired of the constant issues at Newcastle and he’ll have a tipping point.
At some point, if we were Rafa Benitez, we’d just take the money and run.