Rafa Benitez To Leave As Newcastle United Manager

Rafa Benitez To Leave As Newcastle United Manager

By Max Wise

Newcastle United have announced that manager Rafael Benitez will leave the club when his contract expires on June 30.

The 59-year-old Spaniard had been in talks with owner Mike Ashley over a new deal but a disagreement over the length of the contract and Benitez’s insistence on having a major say in the club’s recruitment policy has ended their three-year marriage.

Benitez joined a relegation-threatened Newcastle United side in March 2016 but was powerless in preventing them from dropping down to the Championship.

The Champions League winner however got Newcastle United promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking and has kept them in the top flight for two straight seasons despite operating on a strict budget.

Newcastle United finished 10th and 13th in Benitez’s two seasons with them in the Premier League but the former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool manager has decided to part company with the Tyneside club.

Newcastle said in a statement: “It is with disappointment that we announce manager Rafael Benítez will leave Newcastle United upon the expiry of his contract on June 30, 2019.

“We have worked hard to extend Rafa’s contract over a significant period of time, however it has not been – and will not be – possible to reach an agreement with Rafa and his representatives.

“Rafa’s coaching staff, Paco de Miguel Moreno, Antonio Gómez Pérez and Mikel Antia, will also leave the club on June 30.

“We would like to thank Rafa and his coaching team for their efforts over the last three years and their significant contribution to what has been collectively achieved.

“We would also like to thank our supporters, players and staff for their patience during a period of uncertainty. The process to appoint a successor will now begin.”

With a rich vein of experience accrued from some of Europe’s top clubs, Benitez is not short on suitors as Dalian Yifang have already tabled a £12m yearly contract to take him to the Chinese Super League.