No rest for Rafa if flying start in the

WHEN opportunity knocks, Newcastle United have not always been ready to answer.

The club philosophy until Rafa Benitez took over was to be the best it could be, pound-for-pound. But when they clambered up the Premier League mountain to finish fifth in 2012, they allowed momentum to dissipate in the frustrating summer that followed.

The story was the same when the TV riches began to pour into the Premier League in 2014. While others upgraded their infrastructure and recalibrated their ambition, Newcastle were left standing.

The result? The likes of Leicester, Stoke, Bournemouth, West Brom and Southampton all stealing a march on a United team that were put through two relegation fights before slipping into the Championship.

These are transformative times in English football. The big six might have reasserted their control on the Premier League this season but – as Newcastle will attest – it is the Championship where many of English football’s most famous names are finding the cold, hard reality of what happens if you fail to keep up with the times.

There are big, historic clubs with cache scrambling to get out of the Championship, while others have quietly banished the days when they were considered yo-yo teams.

Next season will be West Brom’s seventh successive in the Premier League and Stoke’s tenth. Newcastle managed only six before dropping into the second tier.

This summer has to be different. Newcastle must make the most of an opportunity to re-establish themselves that few would have seen coming 15 months ago.

Benitez’s determination to secure promises from Mike Ashley in the days that followed promotion was a recognition of this.

Newcastle took a chance to get back on the Premier League gravy train but that is just the first part of it. The next is being ahead of the curve in the 2017/18 season.

Benitez knows this. He is a football obsessive, foregoing the traditional summer break to detail where the club can make some black and white marginal gains this summer. But this is more than just a lick of paint here, a change to the gym there.

In hitting the phones over recent weeks he will have noticed how English football is gearing up for another big summer. Prices are inflating wildly everywhere you turn – Swansea think nothing of putting a £40million price tag on Gylfi Sigurdsson’s head while Sunderland are going to be asking suitors to cough up £30million for England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Everton’s valuation of Romelu Lukaku is said to be £100million.

Newcastle got a taste of this in January. They were offering a big loan fee for the likes of Andros Townsend but even the mooted £7million – with the option of a permanent deal at the end of it – was not much of a temptation for clubs who know there is a guaranteed £100million coming their way for staying in the top flight.

In previous summers, this would have left Newcastle playing the waiting game as they wait for others to blink first. But Benitez wants players in as soon as possible, so recruitment remits have been modified.

Yes, fans might look at the number of very good Championship players being linked and wonder if Newcastle are setting their sights too low. But these are attainable and will add quality. Ditto Andre Gray, Harry Maguire and a crop of very promising players Newcastle