RAFAEL BENITEZ will meet Mike Ashley next week to discuss Newcastle United’s future and decide whether he wants to remain in charge of the club next season.

The Magpies play their final game of the Championship season on Sunday lunchtime, and will lift the title if their result against Barnsley is better than Brighton’s at Aston Villa.

With promotion already guaranteed though, thoughts are turning to the future, and Benitez expects next week’s discussion to be crucial when it comes to determining his own plans beyond the end of the season.

When asked whether he had decided on his future, Benitez said: “Not yet. Hopefully next week we will talk about that.

“That’s not just my future, it’s the future of everyone. The futures depend on this conversation. All the speculation on money and players is not true.

“We have to have that meeting first. We are doing our job first, and trying to put everything in place, the club has to move in one direction or another.

“Next week we will have the meeting and then we can start to move in the right direction.”

The talks will encompass the budget for Newcastle’s summer rebuilding, although Benitez insists suggestions that he will demand a £70m transfer war chest are misguided.

He said: “I have seen figures in the press that Rafa is asking for that. We are working on a business plan but I will not be asking for any money, what I expect from this meeting is to talk about my ideas and their ideas.

“We have to see if we can be closer. I am not demanding this or that. I am a manger who uses common sense about everything. I try to do that here. I have to hear ambitions for the club but at the same time we have to be realistic.”

Benitez would love to see Newcastle claim the Championship title, even if securing promotion was always the most important ambition.

He said: “Promotion was the objective in the beginning, and I said before we wanted to break the record for away wins and have a chance to fight for the title and that is the situation today.

“That is the positive thing. We are really pleased to get promoted was the main thing. We have to be ready and prepare for the game properly and I want the players to enjoy their football.

“It would be really important to win the title. I’d be happy. We want to go into the game with a smile and hopefully after the game we will have a bigger smile.”

Newcastle will be without a number of their key players on Sunday, with Jamaal Lascelles having undergone surgery and Matt Ritchie completing a two-match suspension.

Benitez said: “We have had some players now with problems and they have played with this pain. Jamaal was one, Matt Ritchie another one, (Vurnon) Anita too.

“These three or four players have played with a lot of pain, so I have to be pleased about their commitment for playing with pain. I have to be happy and it’s a positive that they are finished and can think about being fit for next season.”