Benitez aims for Ashley deal to show ambition
to invest in the training ground and the Academy.
Benitez will showcase players like Sean Longstaff and Paul Dummett as a way Mike Ashley can save millions if he gets the youth system in a better working order. His last discussion with Ashley involved a brief mention of whether he would sign the five-year contract still on offer.
However, during Ashley’s chat with Benitez, there was no assurance on his requests, only a reminder the contract was a good financial deal.
Benitez is also keen to for the club’s overall decision-making process to work more smoothly.
He was left frustrated by the Miguel Almiron deal in which the overall transfer took over two months to complete – and the player almost didn’t sign at all as his agent flew to Italy to hold talks with Napoli before United negotiated their position.
Ashley will see the signing of £16million Almiron as proof he is committed to his manager but Benitez is stickler for small details and wants to know how much of a budget will be on offer.
He is hoping it can help transform the team from relegation candidates into a steady top-flight team.
With United in profit, Benitez also hopes there will be an opportunity to bring in more high-profile signings like Almiron rather than looking to cobble together loan deals like the one for Antonio Barreca from Monaco.
If he gets the green light to freshen up his squad, he could be prepared to sign on the dotted line again. And we understand that should that be the case, Benitez will then move on squad members with Joselu, Rob Elliot, Rolando Aarons, Achraf Lazaar and Jamie Sterry likely to be made available for summer moves.
It is also believed Benitez could have sold Joselu in the January window after receiving a tempting bid for the striker, but he felt that there was insufficient time to bring in a replacement and wanted to keep the ex-stoke man as cover.