Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has had very little dialogue with owner Mike Ashley since their opening round of contract talks, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that since a face-to-face meeting between the two men on May 17, there has been little in the way of personal talks between the Spaniard and the Sports Direct tycoon.
Instead, Benitez has been conducting the majority of his talks with Magpies managing director Lee Charnley, and he is edging closer to a decision on his future.
The bulk of the discussions surrounding Benitez’s contract have already taken place, and Ashley is ready to sanction an official contract offer despite the uncertainty over the future of the club.
OPINION
This is a fairly encouraging report depending on which bits you read. Obviously the fact that Benitez and Ashley haven’t really spoken since their first meeting isn’t ideal, but then they don’t really need to. Charnley is obviously handling all the talks and, by all accounts, they’ve gone fairly smoothly so far. Indeed, Ashley is seemingly ready to rubber stamp a new deal for the manager. If you’re Benitez, though, why would you put pen to paper on a new deal with Ashley when he may be ousted as owner at any time by the Bin Zayed Group? Then you’re dealing with completely different people with hugely different ideas and plans for the club. The former Liverpool boss is a shrewd operator. He’ll know that it’s probably not worth him signing a new deal just yet. It’s good that one is pretty much on the table, but you’d think that Benitez will take his time here before making a decision.
