Newcastle next manager: Rafa Benitez requires answers about club's ambition before replacing Steve McClaren

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager is keen to return to the Premier League and wants to join a club with ambition

Former Real Madrid head coach Rafael Benitez (Getty Images)

Rafael Benitez would be prepared to talk to Newcastle United if their managerial position becomes vacant, though there had been no direct contact from either the club, owner Mike Ashley or his chief adviser Keith Bishop last night and the Spaniard will need assurances about the scale of their commitment if a call comes.

Benitez does want to return to Premier League management and a club of Newcastle’s size would hold an appeal, though as a Champions League-winning manager, with success at Chelsea and Napoli and only three defeats in a 25-game tenure at Real Madrid, he will look for a club with ambition.

His acute sensitivity to the plight of Newcastle’s manager, Steve McClaren, who is still in the job despite the intense speculation surrounding his future, means it is unclear precisely how much of a risk to his managerial reputation Benitez considers the Tyneside club to be.

But Newcastle would need to make a very convincing case to the 55-year-old, who parted company with Real in January. Benitez has never been involved in a relegation fight and is likely to need assurances about the club’s ambition, working conditions, back-room set-up and plans to take Newcastle forward – such as they may be.

An initial 10-game interim role until the end of the season could be one possibility, with Benitez unlikely to want to manage in the Championship, were second-bottom Newcastle to be relegated.

The Spaniard’s track record puts him well ahead of the former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes, who is also thought to be in contention. McClaren’s annual salary, substantially lower than £1m, does not equate with what either Benitez or Moyes have commanded elsewhere.

Benitez is likely to have offers from Germany, Spain, Italy and England this summer, though a role in the Premier League would be his preference because of the strength of the division and the presence in England of his family, who remain on Merseyside.

He has made no secret of the fact that it is his ambition to win the Champions League again after his triumph with Liverpool 11 years ago. Though European football of any description is some distance away for Newcastle, ambition is what Benitez has looked for in prospective new clubs in the past. He has always been willing to walk away from opportunities if he believes a club lacks his vision for the future.

Doubts about McClaren’s role have been compounded by Newcastle not providing the usual indication that the manager’s weekly press conference will take place either today or tomorrow. That information would usually have been provided by now. McClaren has been told to continue preparing the team for the ominous prospect of a visit to league leaders Leicester City on Monday night.

With contact with Benitez’s representatives limited to informal intermediary channels, Newcastle appear to have a lot of ground to cover to have a new manager in place for Monday. If they are to fulfil their contractual media obligations, McClaren will be facing the most unenviable press conference of his 15-year managerial career this week.