Toon transfer record must surely fall this summer

COMPETING FOR QUALITY SIGNINGS IS PARAMOUNT

Football editor WHEN they met in those May days of possibility following Newcastle United’s promotion to the Premier League, Rafa Benitez proposed a striker signing to Mike Ashley that whetted the owner’s appetite.

Malaga striker Sandro Ramirez was young, up-and-coming and had just enjoyed a 14-goal La Liga season that seemed to hint at the early promise that had seen him break into Barcelona’s first team.

At £5million – a price pretty much negotiated before his name was mentioned to Ashley – it felt like the perfect sort of Newcastle United deal.

‘Go and get him’ came the message from the Newcastle owner – only for Everton to blow Newcastle out of the water with a contract offer several times larger than the one Newcastle were proposing, or thought was right, for a player of his stature.

When the player in question starts to push the needle past £15million, however, Benitez has found it more difficult to get an answer. See Nicolai Jorgensen in January, for example – a potential club record deal that did not ever appear close.

It is this frustration that has been at the centre of Benitez’s discussions with the club hierarchy in recent weeks. He wants clarity over exactly how much power he has in the recruitment process – and he wants the informal checks and balances on deals over £15million to be removed.

In short: if he wants to blow the budget on one player over the age of 27, he has to be allowed to do it.

The noises coming back from the club are that Benitez will get money