Rafael Benitez in talks with Newcastle to extend stay at St James’ Park after guiding club to Premier League safety

The Spaniard has impressed at St James’ Park this season, leading Newcastle to 10th in the table and a second consecutive season of Premier League football

Rafael Benitez has built a rapport with players and fans on Tyneside (Getty Images)

The Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has confirmed he has held talks with the club over prolonging his stay on Tyneside.

The Spaniard has impressed at St James’ Park this season, leading Newcastle to 10th in the table and a second consecutive season of Premier League football. Despite that, there have been rumblings that the former Liverpool manager could depart the club due to a lack of backing in the transfer market.

However, the 58-year-old rejected those rumours, insisting he is in conversation with the hierarchy at St James’ Park to potentially extend his tenure.

“I have had conversations with the club and we will talk again next week. My representatives are talking with Lee Charnley and they will again,” Benitez said. “It is about my future and everything else too. But we will see what happens. It is good if things are resolved quickly.”

Benitez has been linked with numerous high-profile jobs throughout the season, and has been labelled as a potential outsider for the Arsenal role once Arsene Wenger departs the Emirates Stadium. But Benitez insists he is solely focused on his task with the Magpies, and not any potential future moves.

He said: “I don’t want to talk about my ambitions. We have to talk, the ambitions of the club are the ambitions of the fans. We have to try to do our best with this massive club.”

Newcastle have been in fine form of late and won four consecutive Premier League games to secure their survival before a 1-0 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park on Monday. Despite the fact that they have little else to play for now they are safe, Benitez says that Newcastle are not going to lose focus in their final four games of the season.

Theo Walcott ended Newcastle's winning run (Getty)

He said: “People were expecting we could beat Everton easily because we have done well but you have to look at the money they have spent. But we have to keep working on and off the pitch going forward.

“We have to remain compact, be organised, then some games we have won because we take our chances. We have been one of the best 10 teams for shots, but also the best 10 for defending. We have had good balance and we need to keep that.”