Rafa Benitez commits to Newcastle for next season after Mike Ashley’s faith pays off with club ‘going forward’

Newcastle will kick-off Sunday's clash with Arsenal effectively safe from Premier League relegation, and Benitez admits his project in the north-east is only just getting started

Rafa Benitez has committed himself to Newcastle United for at least next season (Getty)

Rafa Benitez has given the biggest indication yet that he will remain as the Newcastle United manager next season.

The 56-year-old Spaniard has revealed he believes he is just at the beginning of his project in the north-east, having led the club to the Championship last season and tenth place in the Premier League at present.

Potential takeover talk has all but ended, with Mike Ashley ruling out any approach from Amanda Staveley in mid-January, following her failure to reach the club’s asking price. There is an increasing likelihood that he will remain as owner.

During the January transfer window, Newcastle officials were keen to extend Benitez’s existing £6m-a-year deal, which runs out in 2019.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager instead put the talks on hold and sought to guarantee the club’s Premier League survival, something that is now all but mathematically guaranteed.

To that end, the landscape has changed dramatically. Benitez was allowed to make three signings in January, two of which have proved crucial. The goalkeeper Martin Dubravka’s loan deal from Sparta Prague will become permanent once the campaign finishes and Benitez admitted he will fight hard to sign Kenedy on a permanent deal in the summer after his successful loan move from Stamford Bridge.

All three recruits - Islam Slimani was the other - were chosen by Benitez, as were the six permanent signings made during the summer following promotion. The Spaniard, having asked for former chief scout Graham Carr to be moved on, now has full autonomy on incoming players.

He was frustrated by the speed of the club’s transfer activity last summer, following promotion, however the six arrivals cost around £45m. Now, with a young squad developing under him, and the likelihood of greater funds this summer, the talk has turned to next season.

“The club is moving up at the minute,” he said. “What you have is all the potential; the fans, the stadium, the fans going to games away and at home, the city behind us.

“We have a very good group of players at the moment in terms of mentality and they decide to succeed. Everything is fine but we are at the beginning, that is very clear now. We have to keep a lot of things that we have done well for the next season.

“If you are at the beginning you still have plenty of room for improvement. If I decide to stay in the Championship it’s because I could see fans, city environment, everything, staff, everybody was really, really delighted to see things going forward.

Mike Ashley is unlikely to sell Newcastle United after recent talks all but collapsed (Getty)

“You could see everybody pushing and everybody helping you and everybody trying to do their best. I have been in a lot of teams, and in some of them, they have been winning, they thought, ‘Okay done’, and they were going clearly downhill. This club, if we do the right things, we have to go uphill. It can be faster but we have to do things in the right way.”

On Kenedy, who was this week linked to Bayern Munich, he added: “I am not sure if it is that or the media talking and people throwing names. He has the level to play in a top team, yes, but he is in a top side already!

“He is happy here, he is enjoying his football, and today he was joking with the Spanish players because Portuguese and Spanish can understand each other.

Benitez hopes to keep Kenedy at Newcastle next season (Getty)

“When he receives the ball he is always comfortable. He is never scared. His pass, delivery at set pieces, vision, he is giving us something when we play under pressure that we didn’t have.

“Am I thinking about him being here next season? Yeah, but at the moment, what I want is to be sure we stay up and we do the right things.”