Rafa Benitez will stay as Newcastle manager for now but is fast losing patience with club's transfer strategy
A frustrated Benitez will continue as Newcastle manager — for now
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Your support makes all the difference.Rafa Benitez will continue as Newcastle United manager for now but the Spaniard has, for the second time this summer, grown frustrated at the club's inability or reluctance to secure his top transfer targets and considered leaving St. James' Park.
The Spaniard is a huge fan favourite for staying with the club on their relegation to the Championship and then masterminding their charge back to the top flight. The feeling from supporters is that he should, without question, be backed by the club's board.
Benitez this week saw confirmation that he had won his internal power battle with chief scout Graham Carr - once considered a transfer guru and a crown jewel of the Tyneside club - but he left by mutual consent only last Wednesday, despite it having been the first request from the former Liverpool boss in his post-promotion debrief with managing director Lee Charnley in May.
And yet frustration persists that Newcastle have failed to close deals that Benitez knew were there to be finalised.
The Magpies dragged their heels on a deal for Florian Lejeune, a well-considered defender at Eibar, and fatally dawdled over the loan signing of Chelsea's Tammy Abraham.
England Under-21 star Abraham is considered a bargain attacking reinforcement by Benitez but the club were strangely reluctant to rubber-stamp a deal - much to Benitez's ire - and he has instead agreed a deal to move to Swansea.
While Willy Caballero legitimately chose Chelsea over Newcastle, it was another blow for the former Real Madrid boss and his attempts to reinforce a squad that still lacks some Premier League nous ahead of a possible relegation battle.
Sights at the club are set higher than that but the fear is that complacency in the transfer market could needlessly drop the Magpies into trouble.
Benitez came close to walking away from the club a month ago with similar complaints. Carr's eventual departure and some well-considered advice from those around him changed Rafa's mind that time but there was the expectation that deals he had marked as 'high priority' would be complete by the time his side return for pre-season training in early July.
The clock is ticking and the outlook isn't great.
Sources insist that the club are relaxed about reports of Benitez leaving, insisting these are wrinkles every manager faces in a tough transfer market, and those close to the Champions League-winning coach have also noted that threatening to quit tends to be his instinctive reaction when things aren't going his way and he feels that he isn't receiving the appropriate support.
So while the conclusion, for now, is that Benitez will remain with Newcastle, there remains a lingering doubt over his future that is much harder to extinguish. West Ham are known to be watching his situation with interest.
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