Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez accepts that he has made some mistakes in the transfer market, but he believes it is part and parcel of being a manager.
The Spaniard made a number of signings in the summer as he prepared the Magpies for life in the Championship but not all have paid off yet. Benitez told the Shields Gazette that it’s not as simple as some would like to believe:
“When you sign players you make mistakes. It’s not like buying a piece of furniture and you say ‘I put that here’ and that is it. They have families, they have to be comfortable and in football you can only play 11 players – not the 27 that we have.”
No doubt the majority of Newcastle’s summer signings have been successful. Dwight Gayle, Matt Ritchie, Ciaran Clark, Isaac Hayden and DeAndre Yedlin have all made a good impact. Christian Atsu, Mo Diame and Daryl Murphy could also have said to be contributing well to the Magpies’s promotion bid.
Most would however agree that so far that the signings of Achraf Lazaar, Jesus Gamez and Grant Hanley have not worked out yet. Scottish international Hanley may be given a chance this weekend to impress though with Ciaran Clark sidelined with a knee injury he sustained in the home defeat to Fulham last weekend.
