Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez is set for a massive transfer windfall if the sale of the club by current owner Mike Ashley succeeds, reports the Sunday Express.
Financier Amanda Staveley is reported to be in negotiations with the Sport Direct magnate over a £400m deal to buy one of the Premier League’s best-supported clubs. She was pivotal in the takeover of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi Group.
Benitez, the reports declare, will be given £500m to spend over two transfer windows and if his track record on Tyneside is anything to by, he will not find that a problem. The former Real Madrid coach has spent £90m in the three transfer windows, generating over £100m in sales to fund the investment.
However, Benitez’s relationship with Ashley buckled during the summer with concerns that the Spaniard would walk away from St James Park with transfer funds at the centre of the dispute.
Newcastle fans, tremendously loyal to Benitez, were left seething that the man who led them to the Championship title might leave. It was this support for the manager which fed into Ashley’s thinking over the sale of the club.
Currently sitting in seventh in the Premier League, a free-spending Newcastle United may challenge the order at the top of the table.
