Nothing certain in the Magpies’ summer of drift
DOUBTS PERSISTS OVER BENITEZ, BUDGETS AND CLUB’S OWNER
THE off-season is almost like Groundhog Day at Newcastle United during the Mike Ashley era.
No matter how positive the end of a campaign at St James’ Park might be, optimism soon turns into uncertainty for supporters.
The Magpies finished 10th in their first season back in the Premier League following an uplifting 3-0 victory over outgoing champions Chelsea on the final day of the campaign.
Yet here we are, less than a week away from Newcastle’s first pre-season training session, and doubts persist about Rafa Benitez’s long-term future, Mike Ashley’s future ownership of the club, and what the composition of the United squad will be in 2018/19, among other things.
Here, NUFC Writer Chris Waugh takes us through five big questions which remain unanswered just a week before the players return to training.
1Is Rafa going to sign a new contract? Will Ashley and Benitez meet face to face to resolve their differences? Benitez, and Newcastle fans, had hoped for clarity on the situation before the end of the season – but the campaign finished a month-and-a-half ago and there remain doubts over the Spaniard’s long-term future.
Interest from West Ham United, Napoli and Leicester City came and went this summer, and the strong suggestion from Benitez’s camp is that he is committed to seeing out the final year of his contract.
Beyond that, however, is a different matter entirely.
The Spaniard not only wants to be back in the transfer market this summer, he also wants to know – among many other things – that he can improve Newcastle’s training ground, radically overhaul the Academy and Under-23 set-up, continue to upgrade and bolster his scouting team, and streamline United’s approach to completing transfer deals.
But it is not just actual physical improvements Benitez wants to see off the pitch; he also needs to know that attitudes at the football club will change – and that Newcastle match his own ambitions.
Fighting against relegation, and even scrambling around in mid-table mediocrity, does not interest Benitez in the slightest. He wants to know he will be afforded the backing to compete for European qualification, as well as challenge for trophies.
This one needs to be resolved as soon as possible, because uncertainty over Benitez’s long-term future could yet have a negative impact upon transfer dealings.
If there is doubt over Benitez being on Tyneside long term, then potential targets may opt to go elsewhere, while the likes of Florian Lejeune and Jamaal Lascelles could yet be tempted away if they feel the manager will leave next summer. As this correspondent has suspected all along, it may require a direct intervention from Ashley for this to finally be sorted though – even if the Sports Direct magnate did release a statement stressing he “hopes” Benitez continues last month. At the moment there is no indication that such a meeting is imminent, meaning Benitez’s contract talks with managing director Lee Charnley remain at an unsatisfactory impasse.
2Do Newcastle have the funds – and the nous – to deliver what Benitez wants in the transfer market? Ashley promised that “every penny the club generates” will be afforded to the manager – something he also stressed a year ago – in his latest statement; and it seems that is the case once more.
Newcastle received more than £123m in total from the Premier League last season, while the Magpies are likely to have received in the region of £25m in matchday revenue and a further £10m at least on top of that commercially.
Yet the operating loss of £90.9m that United suffered during the 2016/17 campaign is undoubtedly still having a detrimental impact on their competitiveness in the transfer market. As things stand, Benitez is believed to have been told he will have a similar-sized budget to the one he had last summer. Newcastle spent £46m net on incomings last season and, given that a £40m-£50m payment is due from the Premier League next month, it is likely that this lump sum will form the majority of his budget for the summer. Benitez has been told he can augment that with the money generated from player sales, but it is unclear whether he can spend all of the cash he recoups immediately, even if the transfer fee received is paid in instalments.
Should Benitez manage to bolster his transfer kitty to around £80m with player sales, then he might be just about able to complete the significant business he wants done this summer – but it will require some serious wheeling and dealing, particularly given the fact there are now less than seven weeks left in the window.
The Spaniard’s top priority is to sign a proven top-flight goalscorer, but he also wants an attacking midfielder, at least one full-back, a centre-half and a winger, be it Kenedy or someone else.
Should Mikel Merino depart too, with the player himself seemingly agitating for a move, then a defensive midfielder will also need to be recruited.
So far only Martin Dubravka has joined on a permanent basis, and all that took was for Newcastle to enact the £4m option-tobuy clause in his contract.
Given the slow pace at which United have completed transfer deals in the past, Benitez will surely be fearful that the