Scott Wilson Column: Newcastle are back in a familiar mess - but will Rafael Benitez carry out his threat to walk away?

Which rather begs the question, whose opinion actually does count? Presumably not Rafael Benitez’s, otherwise the Magpies would have been parading Willy Caballero, Tammy Abraham and Jacob Murphy when they play their opening pre-season game at Hearts tomorrow.

Not Graham Carr’s either, with the former chief scout having left his position at the end of last month. Lee Charnley’s? The managing director is the man who writes the cheques, but it has become abundantly clear over the last few years that he does not exercise any meaningful power. He dutifully does Ashley’s bidding, although this summer, it is questionable whether he has even managed to achieve that.

Not for the first time, the executive structure at St James’ Park is a complete mess, and with the start of the new Premier League season now less than a month away, Newcastle are in serious danger of undoing all the good work that was achieved as they secured promotion.

The positivity that accompanied May’s title triumph has vanished, replaced by an all-too-familiar sense of anger and angst. The unity that carried Newcastle to the Championship title is coming apart at the seams. And as their Premier League rivals spend record sums to strengthen their squads, the Magpies find themselves back in their now-traditional position of being penny-pinching paupers, constantly looking to cut corners while everyone else embraces the new financial liberties presented by the ‘richest league in the world’.

Why on earth are Newcastle not spending money this summer? Yes, the market is difficult, with wildly-inflated fees being quoted for fairly average players, and agents looking to extract an even bigger price than usual for their services. With every Premier League club due to receive a guaranteed £100m next season, Newcastle’s position as financial big players has been undermined, with further damage inflicted by their 12-month spell in the Championship. It is no longer easy to outbid the likes of Stoke, Bournemouth or West Brom.

But that argument only goes so far. Notwithstanding the fact that Murphy’s proposed move from Norwich could be completed in the next few days, we are still in a position where newly-promoted Huddersfield Town have spent £36m so far this summer, whereas Newcastle’s net spend on their two additions (Christian Atsu and Florian Lejeune) stands at £4m.

Is the money there? Ashley said it was when he persuaded Benitez to remain in his current position at the end of last season. As recent court events have proved, Ashley’s words do not always amount to much, especially when he is in an inebriated state, but by promising his manager “every last penny that the club generates through promotion, player sales and other means”, he was surely pledging a pot significantly in excess of £4m.

Furthermore, it is not as if Benitez is putting forward targets wildly out of Newcastle’s price range. It’s not Romelu Lukaku or James Rodriguez we’re talking about here. Abraham would have been a loan deal with a fee of £2-3m attached. Caballero was a free agent following his release from Manchester City. Murphy would already be a Newcastle player if Norwich had been offered another £3-4m for his services from the outset.

If players are available, and the money is there to sign them, something is clearly going badly wrong in the process connecting the two, which brings us to Charnley and his desire to complete ‘the perfect deal’.

We’ve been here before, with Charnley proudly unveiling a mission statement that proclaimed a desire for Newcastle to be “the best, pound for pound, they can be”. If you’re counting every pound, it’s little wonder deals falls apart.

The financial landscape of the Premier League has changed, but Charnley’s desire to squeeze every last ounce of value from the transfer market remains unaltered. That’s fine if you’re in a strong enough position to be able to play hard-ball. The reality this summer, though, is that if Newcastle adopt that stance, they will lose out to the likes of Swansea and Brighton.

Every time Charnley digs in his heels and refuses to pay an additional transfer clause or agree to a potential goals bonus, players who could be helping Newcastle re-establish themselves in the top-flight head elsewhere. A policy designed to safeguard the club’s financial future is actually causing untold damage.

The phrase ‘speculate to accumulate’ is clearly not part of Charnley’s lexicon, which leaves Benitez in a difficult position, especially as there is no sign of a radical change of approach during the remainder of the transfer window.

Benitez is supposed to be different to the managers who preceded him. He was meant to be the one with the power, calling the shots in the knowledge that if he did not get his way, he could wash his hands of the whole sorry situation. A Champions League winner, with financial security for life, he could tell Ashley and Charnley where to stick their job if he didn’t like what was happening on his watch.

That has been the narrative ever since Benitez arrived at St James’ Park, and it has been evident again in the last few weeks, with a regular stream of stories appearing suggesting the Spaniard is on the brink of walking away.

Yet here we are, almost two months into the summer, and Newcastle’s current manager looks every bit as weak and powerless as his predecessors who were portrayed as Ashley’s puppets. With every transfer target that slips through the net, his supposed influence is further undermined.

That is not to suggest it would be in anyone’s interest for Benitez to walk away. If Newcastle were to lose their manager now, it would be a complete disaster.

Yet as he returns to the touchline at Tynecastle tomorrow, the Magpies manager is beginning to look like the boy who cried wolf.

A threat to take the nuclear option is only a meaningful one if you’re willing to push the button. Does Benitez really have the will or desire to walk away? Another week or two without meaningful transfer progress, and we will find out one way or the other.