Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley met with manager Rafa Benitez for talks after their 3-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper report that the ‘beaming’ Sports Direct tycoon showed up at Benitez’s office after the impressive win to offer his congratulations and reignite a dialogue with his manager.
The Mail claim that Ashley is keen to get things going between him and Benitez once again, with the Spaniard said to be frustrated by a lack of transfer activity this month.
It is said that Ashley was joined by aide Justin Barnes in the discussion, with the tycoon said to be close to admitting defeat in his efforts to sell the club.
OPINION
Ashley deciding to meet with Benitez and re-open talks between the two is obviously a positive for Newcastle in the short-term, with time ticking until the end of the January transfer window. A dialogue between owner and manager is key if the Magpies want to make the right movements in the market over the next ten days or so. However, as also mentioned in the article, this likely means that Ashley is not getting anywhere in talks to sell the club, which is bad news in the long-term for the club. The tycoon is obviously coming to terms with the fact that he will have to fund the club’s January business, which will be essential if they want to remain in the Premier League. Ashley will no doubt have been hoping to offload such responsibility to new owners, but with just 11 days left in the window, time is of the essence and it would be impossible to agree a sale in that time frame.
