Manchester City are ready to steal a march on Newcastle by putting a bid in for Pepe Reina.
According to a report in The Guardian Pep Guardiola wants to bring in the Napoli keeper to provide experienced back up to Ederson Moraes.
Newcastle have been strongly linked with a move for Reina who was a key player for Benitez when they were together at Liverpool.
Bringing in an experienced goalkeeper was a priority for the Newcastle boss but he has been powerless as Willy Caballero and Joe Hart have moved on elsewhere.
Reina has a year left on his Napoli contract but despite being involved in talks no new deal has been agreed.
While Newcastle can offer first team football they could lose out to City offering more money for a back up to the £35m man Moraes.
Tim Krul has been left out of the Newcastle squad taken to Ireland for pre-season training where Benitez is working with Rob Elliot and Freddie Woodman.
