Rafa Benitez hints at growing tension at Newcastle between himself and owner Mike Ashley

The Toon have only managed to bring in six summer signings so far

Benitez is growing more and more frustrated at Newcastle (Getty)

Rafa Benitez has given the biggest sign yet of the growing tension with the Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley by admitting his frustration with the summer transfer window.

Benitez met Ashley at Sports Direct’s headquarters in Shirebrook for a four-hour meeting in May once the Championship title had been concluded in dramatic fashion. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager presented a plan to Ashley that included investment in players and infrastructure.

When he left, the Newcastle owner released a statement which read: “I’ve confirmed to Rafa and Lee that they can have every last penny the club generates through promotion, player sales sand other means in order to build for next season.”

It was seen as the green light for a significant summer of investment, but Benitez has admitted he missed out on his first targets because of restrictions at the club. Newcastle completed their sixth signing of the summer when they bought Joselu from Stoke for £5m this week, but Huddersfield and Brighton, promoted with them, have 10 and 11 new players respectively.

When asked about the May meeting, Benitez replied curtly: “He knows what he told me and what I was thinking.”

The Spaniard was then asked if there is still a chance to make it a successful window. “It can be a better window. When you have what you have and you miss what you missed, then you can try to improve, but it cannot be ideal. It hasn’t changed anything. I am in contact with Lee (Charnley).”

Ashley had gone on television last week to proclaim Newcastle could not compete in the transfer market and Benitez said of the programme: “I know what he said. I knew what the fans think about the interview. I know if I keep talking about that I will not change anything, so what I want is to be sure that the team will be good enough to compete against Huddersfield this weekend and then against Nottingham Forest and then against West Ham.

“I cannot change anything with my opinion about the interview, if I say this, or I say that. I want to concentrate on the things that depend on me, to prepare the team.”

Benitez will have to sell more players in order to boost the likelihood of adding more players.


 Mike Ashley gave an interview where he admitted Newcastle couldn't compete for transfers (Getty Images)
 (Getty)

“We have to balance both if we can, in terms of the timing, maybe not to do this, to do that but we are trying to do both things at the same time,” he added.

Ashley attended Newcastle’s opening day defeat against Spurs, the day in which his interview was aired, but the pair once more did not meet.

“When you are in a game and we lost the game, the main thing is to understand why, the problem we had with injuries. It does not change anything in terms of what I was doing. I had been dealing with Lee Charnley for this year and a half.

“I met him (Ashley) when we were relegated and we needed to know exactly how much money we had, and then when we promote. That’s it. I don’t need too much contact if I have Lee Charnley there.”