How much will Rafa get to spend this summer? That’s the $64,000 question
NEWCASTLE United managingdirector Lee Charnley will resume talks with Rafa Benitez’s representatives again this week as the club look to thrash out a new contract for the much-loved former Liverpool boss to stay at St James’ Park.
Benitez knows Mike Ashley is not going simply sign off a cheque for £200million before telling his manager to: “Go shop.”
However, Benitez will want a competitive transfer budget as Newcastle look to build on what has been an impressive first season back in the Premier League after their one-season stay in the Sky Bet Championship.
Benitez knows TV money will be forthcoming this summer and by the time you have cobbled in the prize money for final league positions it could amount to around £120million.
The big questions is: How much of that will Benitez see ahead of the summer transfer window?
Last year Ashley told Benitez he could have “every last penny” of whatever profit was earned b y the club gaining promotion before United went on to spend just under £40million.
You get the feeling it will be significantly more than that this summer and there will also be further funds to come in from player sales, with Aleksandar Mitrovic set to be a high-profile departure as Fulham prepare to take him on fulltime – providing they win promotion.
That could add another £20million to the coffers for Benitez but if there is one thing Ashley should be comfortable with when it comes to his manager, it is trusting him with wheeling and dealing in the transfer market.
Surprisingly, that has not always been the case for Newcastle’s top brass in recent years despite the fact they handed Benitez full responsibility for football business – including buying and selling. Benitez was a key player in the £25million sale of Gini Wijnaldum to Liverpool and earned the club a £11million profit for a player who stayed just 12 months on the books, then remarkably he helped oversee the £30million sale of Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham.
Some will argue his record of signing players has not always succeeded at Newcastle with the likes of Achraf Lazaar, Matz Sels and Jesus Gamez not proving to be a hit on Tyneside.
Yet the bulk of the starting XI which has found its way into the top 10 of the Premier League are all Rafa signings with Martin Dubravka, DeAndre Yedlin, Florian Lejeune, Matt Ritchie, Mo Diame, Kenedy, and Dwight Gayle playing their parts at key times of the campaign. The combined cost of those players was around £34million while two of them are loan players – so surely Benitez’s judgement in the transfer market cannot be questioned? At one of Benitez’s previous clubs Napoli he paid just £40million for Raúl Albiol, Jorginho, José Callejón, Dries