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Newcastle offer for Benitez on the table

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Image for Newcastle offer for Benitez on the table

OPINION

It has been a pretty miserable summer so far for Newcastle United.

The only done transfer deal is one that was put in place in January when Martin Dubravka signed on a loan-to-buy that was converted into a permanent switch at the start of the window.

The Slovakian is a fine goalkeeper who is an upgrade on those who vied for the number one shirt at the start of the 2017-18 season, but he represents only a small portion of the business United need to do if they’re to build on their 10th place finish from the last campaign.

Key to that is keeping hold of Rafael Benitez, the immensely popular manager who is the club’s biggest individual asset.

The Chronicle report that Newcastle’s offer for the Spaniard “is still on the table and it is a long-term deal that would calm so many of the anxieties that United fans have about the future.

However, Benitez’s knows his own value and his negotiating position is strong.

He won’t sign off on the deal until he feels Newcastle’s hierarchy – led by owner Mike Ashley – are willing to match or come close to matching his ambitions.

That would mean the recruitment of a number of new players who can improve a rather mediocre squad, including some penetrative attacking midfielders and a striker capable of scoring 15 league goals a season.

Benitez has also devised a blueprint for overhauling the club’s stagnant academy as well as the infrastructure of a training ground that now pales in comparison with the Premier League big hitters.

With over five weeks of the transfer window open for permanent deal, Newcastle can still turnaround their summer and make some waves.

For the sun to shine on their 2018-19 campaign, they will need to do so very soon.

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