RAFAEL BENITEZ has opened the door to a formal approach from Newcastle United as the Magpies’ recruitment team continue to search for a permanent head coach.

While interim boss John Carver concentrates on the remaining 13 games of the season in the hope of pushing his own claims for a permanent position, a working party led by managing director Lee Charnley continues to assess the claims of a number of external candidates.

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Some, such as Remi Garde and Frank De Boer, were widely discussed in the immediate aftermath of Alan Pardew’s departure, but others, such as former Liverpool boss Benitez, are being looked at afresh now that Carver’s temporary appointment has enabled a period of reflection.

Benitez is currently in charge of a Napoli side that is sitting in third position in the Serie A table, but he has consistently been linked with a move away from Italy this summer.

He has previously spoken of his desire to return to England, and perhaps significantly, has refused to commit himself to Naples beyond the end of the season.

He would relish a chance to embellish his reputation in the Premier League, although whether he would be willing to work under the tight restrictions demanded by Mike Ashley is a moot point.

“I’ll speak about my future before the end of the season,” said Benitez. “For now, I want to stay focused on the present, and the games we have coming up.

“I have a good relationship with the players and the club so there’s still time to discuss the issue. When I leave Napoli, whether that’s in a year or five years, I want the team to be more mature.”

While Newcastle’s boardroom team have half an eye on the future, the Magpies’ short-term prospects will be seriously undermined if Paul Dummett’s knee injury proves as serious as feared as the Welshman’s absence would leave the club with just two fit centre-halves.

Dummett damaged his knee in last week’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, and was advised to use crutches for a couple of days as a precautionary measure.

The 23-year-old has already been ruled out of Saturday’s televised game at Manchester City, and is being closely monitored amid fears he could be forced onto the sidelines until the end of next month.

His absence leaves Carver with a major headache as Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson are currently Newcastle’s only available central defenders.

Steven Taylor has already been ruled out of the remainder of the campaign with an Achilles problem, while Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was allowed to join Roma permanently last month despite a replacement not being in place.

Even youngsters Remie Street and Kevin Mbabu are not available after joining Rangers on loan until the end of the season on January deadline day.

Coloccini and Williamson have formed Newcastle’s first-choice central-defensive pairing for the majority of the season, but neither is in particularly good form and both have suffered from a succession of injury problems in the past.

Newcastle’s decision not to sign a defensive reinforcement last month was heavily influenced by last summer’s capture of Jamaal Lascelles.

The defender was immediately loaned back to Nottingham Forest, but is due to join up with Newcastle at the start of pre-season training in July.

He will go straight into the first-team squad despite having suffered an extremely inconsistent campaign, with his performance in Nottingham Forest’s 4-4 draw at Blackpool last weekend coming in for especially strong criticism.

Goalkeeper Karl Darlow, the other player to have joined Newcastle last summer, only to be loaned straight back to the City Ground, was also criticised for his performance at Bloomfield Road.