Despite unkept promises Benitez has stayed with the Magpies

RAFA Benitez remains committed to United despite encountering a genuine struggle to land the terms he wants in his next contract. There is no doubt Benitez believes the Magpies are the club for him and he is open to staying at St James’ Park for years ahead. However, he will not agree to that unless he feels it gives him the chance to climb into the Premier League’s top six within the same time frame of his next deal. Last year Benitez spoke about potentially being at United for the next 10 years and he is keen to carry out an exciting and interesting project.

Yet so far during his talks with the club’s hierarchy he is concerned they don’t have the same vision for the future as him.

Last week Benitez - amid links with West Ham - made it clear he was not interested in breaking his current contract and would stay on until at least the end of the 2018/19 season.

It appears his commitment at United cannot be questioned so far, but here are five times he could have walked away from Newcastle. NEWCASTLE were narrowly relegated and even though Benitez had not signed for the Magpies to manage in the Championship many pundits and fans wondered if he would be prepared to mix it with the likes of Barnsley, Rotherham and Bristol City.

Instead of walking away, and with a lucrative offer from a club in China on the table, Benitez signed a threeyear deal on the basis he would be given total control of transfers. BY this stage Benitez was meant to have complete control of football decisions but suddenly found there was no money to spend in the winter trading period.

A sighting of then chief scout Graham Carr in the stands with Mike Ashley raised suspicions that, like Alan Pardew and Steve McClaren had experienced, it was the talentspotter who had more clout in the boardroom.

As Newcastle checked out of the