United make profit as Ivan is off to Posh
obvious that is not going to change under this owner.
“Rafa has made a profit again as we stand here of about £25million.
“He made a profit last year in the transfer market.
“What was it about £120million for finishing 10th last season?
“My question would be where has that money gone.”
Benitez felt he had saved the club huge amounts of money after wheeling and dealing in the market and landing Ki Sung-yueng on a free transfer plus Salomón Rondón and Kenedy on loan deals.
Newcastle have spent around £23 million this summer on Martin Dubravka, Fabian Schär, Yoshinori Muto and Fernandez.
They are set to end the window with at least a £21million profit.
Benitez went into April talks with the club hopeful they could agree on a contract extension.
The owner Mike Ashley then said in May: “Rafa, as always, has my full support and, contrary to some media reports which portray me as a pantomime villain, I will continue to ensure every penny generated by the club is available to him.
“I hope very much Rafa will remain at Newcastle United.”
However, United are then believed to have told Benitez he would not have full access to funds unless he signed a new deal.
That left the Spaniard scrambling in the bargain basement for players in the window.
Even then, he has had restrictions pushed in his way and the original cash deal for Rondon fell through because of his £16.5million price tag.
Players on his shortlist such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who wants to leave Chelsea, and Andros Townsend of Crystal Palace were then dismissed because of their high fees.
Townsend was given a price tag of more than £20million and Benitez would have had to lose Matt Ritchie to make it happen.
However, even the simplest deals have proved to be tough for him.
Stanley N’Soki of PSG has fallen through, again because of the asking price, this time £9million.
Fernández was a straight-forward deal too but Newcastle were not keen on paying £10million for the Swansea defender before the Welsh side finally reduced their demands to £6million.
As deadline day loomed, Benitez asked to sign two players at cutprice in Ragnar Klavan of Liverpool and an old target in Erik Pieters of Stoke City - but again hit a brick wall according to sources close to the deals in Holland and Estonia.
Benitez has laboured the point long enough with three diplomatic press conferences underlining the need for more players.
In Ireland he said he had accepted the conditions but deals still needed to be done. In Braga he stated it was “simple and clear” Newcastle were still short.
At St James’ Park after losing to Augsburg he suggested the club was now drinking in the last chance saloon on deals.
Unfortunately it seems some of his words have fallen on deaf ears on Barrack Road.
It leaves Benitez in a similar place to 12 months ago.
Back then the window closed without a quality goalscorer coming through the ranks and Newcastle signed Javier Manquillo as a utility player to cover at left-back, despite being a right-footed defender.
Joselu was brought in to make up the numbers in attack and, while he did get some important goals, Newcastle were plunged into an unnecessary relegation battle during the winter months.
Benitez did get some joy in the last hours of the window but he was still unhappy Newcastle have taken another gamble in what will be one of the most competitive Premier League seasons to date. NEWCASTLE United have managed to make a big profit on Ivan Toney by picking up a fee of around £650,000 for his services.
The forward was also subject to a late bid from Norwegian side SK Brann, who lodged a £600,000 offer for Toney before Peterborough United won the race for his signature.
It means Newcastle have made a profit on the striker after paying around £250,000 for him back in 2015 under Steve McClaren
Peterborough manager Steve Evans said: “It goes without saying I am delighted to land the signature of Ivan Toney.
“He is a young man who is coming from a great club but has predominantly in the last few seasons been around a number of clubs on-loan and, it has to be said, he has been successful at each of them.
“I took up a reference on character on Ivan from most of the managers he has worked with because I know enough about him as a player.
“Every one of them said they would want him to be part of their group, so that is a very positive sign.
“Posh supporters should be aware this is the first striker I authorised a bid to be made for and his was the first name on the strikers’ list to bring to Peterborough United when I met with the board in America back in May.
“Our director of football Barry Fry made a written offer quite a way back and I have kept in touch with the situation and we eventually got a signature on a contract just after midnight on Wednesday.
“It goes without saying we welcome Ivan.
“He has added to a strong group and brings competition in the attacking areas.
“What a wonderful introduction to transfer deadline day! “I would like to thank Barry for his perseverance - it often gets forgotten in how diligently he works on these matters, and of course to our chairman Darragh MacAnthony and the board for their
backing.”