Actions will speak louder than words in transfer dealings
NEWCASTLE United need to hit the ground running in the summer transfer window.
Already, two of the Magpies’ Premier League rivals are off and running in what is expected to be a frenetic trading period as clubs start to dip into the TV cash pots available to them.
Leicester City, who finished three points and one place above United, have moved swiftly to sign up Ricardo Pereira from Porto while Brighton, another side who will be pushing Newcastle next season, have added Romania international Florin Andone to their ranks in a five-year deal from Deportivo La Coruna.
In a summer in which actions will speak louder than words for Premier League clubs, we have already had a rare statement from Mike Ashley - who insists he wants Rafa Benitez to stay on at St James’ Park.
Although we are yet to see the incentive to make Benitez do exactly that.
Newcastle also say they want to continue backing Benitez in the recruitment stakes but it is little wonder there seem to be a trust issue behind the scenes when it comes to transfers.
Has Benitez been backed every time in the transfer window? A quick check back to January 2017 and January 2018 reveals United did not spend a penny on permanent deals either time. The summer window of 2016 did not end convincingly as Benitez was forced to make a cut-price deal for Daryl Murphy with funds low, while the 2017 summer window started slowly and also ended in unspectacular fashion with the Spaniard turning to the bargain basket to bring in Javier Manquillo and Joselu. That snail-paced opening to the summer window resulted in Benitez missing out on Willy Caballero on a free transfer and Tammy Abraham on loan. Those were not even cash deals, yet a stuttering response to his requests to his board saw Caballero move to Chelsea and Abraham opt for Swansea as certain fees could not be sanctioned in time. Benitez did not take a holiday last summer and has remained in the UK again this time around as he waits for answers on a list of fresh Lee Ryder requests from managing-director Lee Charnley
Charnley did well to convince Benitez to stay in the summer of 2016 and has now been tasked again by Ashley to thrash out a new contract for the 58-year-old - something which is going painstakingly and worryingly slowly.
Regardless of the recent past, that resulted in Newcastle bouncing straight back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, things have moved on again in the top flight.
Transfer fees and wage demands have grown bigger and United must pay the asking price or risk relega-