Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez is likely to scrap his team’s annual trip to Dublin as a result of the side’s plans in China, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that it’s unlikely that the Magpies will be heading to the Irish capital now that they are booked to compete in the Premier League trophy in China in the pre season.
Benitez’s team have stayed at Carton House in Maynooth for the past three years, but their trip to China has prompted a huge re-think on pre season.
The Dublin trip has been the launchpad for two extremely successful seasons – and one in progress at the moment which looks likely to yield Premier League safety – but it’s seemingly not going to happen this time round.
OPINION
This is a bit of a shame because, as mentioned, the Dublin trip has been good for Newcastle in the past. It has been the base where some successful seasons have begun for the club. Unfortunately, the commercial appeal of the Premier League trophy in China has turned the Magpies’ head. That’s no surprise given who owns the club of course. Still, the Chinese trip will help Newcastle appeal to a wider, football-mad market. Still, this is unlikely to have been Benitez’s ideal summer scenario. Dublin has been successful for the club so it would be a big surprise if the Spaniard was really in favour of this change. If it was up to him he would probably do exactly what he’s done in previous years, but it seems that won’t be possible. Having said all that, the fact that the former Liverpool boss is being involved in pre season talks and is included in the decision-making suggests that he might be sticking around on Tyneside for a bit longer.
