Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has lifted the lid on what he wants the club to do if he is to sign a contract extension.
The Spaniard is currently slated to leave St James’ Park when his current deal expires at the end of the season and, after Friday’s win over Leicester City, he revealed what he wants from the Magpies moving forward.
“It’s just to go to the transfer window and sign the players that you need at the right time,” he said, as per The Chronicle. “Sometimes you have the players and you cannot get players because a team can pay more money than you.
“But obviously everyone says the same: that you have to go early, you have to choose your targets that you need. You have to try to find the players that you need, and do it quickly. Then you have a city, a massive club with all the potential to grow and do things better, and try to compete with anyone in the Premier League. Obviously the top six are a little bit far away now, but still you can compete in the other range if you do a little bit better.”
OPINION
Basically Benitez wants to see the club match his ambition if he is to sign a new deal. He sees Newcastle as a massive club and clearly believes they have huge potential. He is entirely justified in that point of view, too, given that the club were once Champions League competitors and have some of the best fans in the country. If Benitez were given a bit of money to spend so that he can bring in the calibre of players that he actually wants then there’s no telling what he could achieve. He is performing well with one of the worst squads in the Premier League, so imagine how well they would do if Mike Ashley gave him a bit of money to spend. All the former Liverpool boss wants is a smidgen more ambition. It would be a travesty for the club to lose a manager of this calibre simply because they are unwilling to open the chequebook in this day and age. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen and that the Spaniard puts pen to paper soon despite his reservations.
