RAFAEL BENITEZ will hold a transfer briefing with Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley in the next 24 hours in an attempt to kick-start the club’s preparations for next season.
Reports emerged over the weekend suggesting Benitez is ready to walk away from St James’ Park because of a failure to land his leading targets in the last few weeks. The situation is nowhere near as dramatic as that, but there is a mounting frustration at Newcastle’s failure to recruit players who now look destined to head elsewhere.
A fortnight ago, Benitez thought he had lined up deals for Tammy Abraham, Florian Lejeune, Fabian Delph and either Pepe Reina or Willy Caballero. However, Abraham has agreed a season-long loan with Swansea, Delph is on the verge of joining Stoke City, Reina remains locked in contractual discussions with Napoli and Caballero has rejected the option of a move to Tyneside.
That leaves Lejeune, and while the outline of an £8.7m deal for the defender has been agreed with Eibar, negotiations over how the fee will be structured and paid remain tortuous.
As a result, Christian Atsu remains Newcastle’s only summer signing, and with the start of pre-season training now just a week away, Benitez is concerned his attempts to strengthen the squad that won promotion last season are being stymied.
With Mike Ashley having agreed the broad parameters of this summer’s transfer budget, Charnley, who has only recently returned from a trip to China where he met potential investors, is responsible for tying up the finer details of all transfers.
TRANSFER GURU: Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley
Graham Carr’s departure from his role as chief scout should have removed a layer of potential conflict, but it is still proving difficult for Newcastle to complete transfers that have progressed a long way down the line.
In part, that reflects the wider complexities of a transfer market that is awash with money, and where agents know Newcastle are keen to be active at an early stage of proceedings. However, the Magpies are developing a track record for struggling to get deals ‘over the line’, and Benitez will be seeking clarification over the precise issues that have proved so problematic in the last couple of weeks.
The club continue to pursue a number of different players, and it is telling that one of their most trusted scouts, Steve Nickson, has been dispatched to Poland to monitor the European Under-21 Championships.
Newcastle have a long-standing interest in Demarai Gray, although the Leicester winger would cost around £20m and is likely to be regarded as overpriced. A more realistic option is Jacob Murphy, with the Norwich youngster potentially available for half that price.
Murphy, who is a product of the Carrow Road academy, was one of England’s most impressive performers as they progressed to the semi-finals of the Euros, and Newcastle would be willing to pay around £10m to secure his services.
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