Benitez: I will stay despite lack of summer spending
Rafael Benitez leaves his listeners in no doubt. For a variety of reasons ranging from promises made to players and the passion of their supporters, the Spaniard is not on the verge of walking out on Newcastle United.
Benitez, bemused by the club’s failure to back his judgment with cash during the summer, still relishes the challenges posed by their return to the Premier League and voices a desire to stay that owner Mike Ashley should welcome.
Ashley knows he would never be forgiven by those fans if the financial restraints he imposes prompt Benitez’s exit. But – and there is always a but where Newcastle are concerned – Ashley would be wise to analyse events at Valencia, a club where a similar reluctance to invest in players proved in 2004 that Benitez, who once turned down Real Madrid because he felt a loyalty to Liverpool, does have a breaking point.
Benitez said: “Yes, I left Valencia. We won La Liga after 31 years and they gave me zero. Then we won the league and Uefa Cup and I had to go because there were promises and they didn’t keep their word. I have four clubs coming for me and I said if you don’t keep your word … ”
At the time, Benitez phrased it more colourfully. “I was hoping for a sofa and they’ve brought me a lamp,” he said – and there are echoes of that phrase in recent events at St James’ Park.
“I was expecting something in the summer and it didn’t happen,” he said. “Now I want to be sure of doing the right things to be a little better. We will see where we are at the end of August.
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The main thing is we have to stick together and move forward.
“I am not someone who says, ‘You have to do this because it’s me.’ No, it’s because we have experience, we have been successful and we want to replicate this way to do things. If I am here and they pay me the salary that they pay me, it’s because they trust me.
“We are not demanding crazy things, we are demanding just to do things in the right way, like we did with Liverpool or with Chelsea or the other clubs where we have been.”
Those demands are being handled by Lee Charnley, the managing director, but the club’s spending policy is dictated by Ashley, whose failure to talk to Benitez for nearly three months encapsulates the crazy world of Newcastle United.
Benitez has presented a powerful case to Charnley and can point to countless occasions during his career when players he bought have produced success and been sold on at a healthy profit.
“I explain things,” the manager says. “It’s not that I don’t explain the reasons why. This way has been successful, so we are trying to replicate similar things. We are doing things in a professional way with a lot of staff working together. Afterwards you have someone who has to make the decisions.”
Ashley is that man and, while he may not choose to meet Benitez often, the owner did speak to Sky Sports to tell supporters – and presumably his manager – that he lacks the financial muscle of clubs such as Manchester City.
Ashley makes a reasonable point by saying he cannot “take on countries” in the competition for the world’s best players, yet a net spend of less than £20million so far this summer makes Newcastle the poor neighbours of the other promoted clubs, Brighton and Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town.
Those clubs are paying the wages demanded nowadays, while Benitez missed out on his primary targets, notably striker Tammy Abraham, who was desperate to link up with the Spanish manager but eventually selected Swansea when he left Chelsea on loan.
A new forward remains Benitez’s priority and he is certain to sign one, although it will be somebody who is a long way from the top of the wanted list. It means even Benitez does not know how Newcastle will cope with a season that begins for them today at home to Tottenham Hotspur. “I wanted to stay in the Premier League at a massive club like this one to compete at the top of the table, but can we do it now? I don’t know. Will it be more difficult? Yes, because we didn’t do exactly what we wanted to do,” he said.
“We are trying to improve things, but will it be good enough to give us the chance to compete and to challenge for things? Maybe, but I don’t know at the moment.”