The Rafalution Continues

Good Luck!

Rafael Benitez has agreed to stay at Newcastle United after holding positive talks with owner Mike Ashley regarding his plans for next season.

The Magpies clinched the Sky Bet Championship title on the final day of the season with a 3-0 victory over Barnsley, Benitez successfully led the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The former Real Madrid boss signed a three-year contract with Newcastle last May but had hinted he could leave if he and Ashley were not on the same page in terms of the development of the club.

The Spaniard was flown by helicopter to the Midlands' HQ of Sports Direct, where he met Ashley face to face and the club have now confirmed Benitez is staying.

A statement from Newcastle said: "Newcastle United can confirm that a meeting has taken place between the club's owner, Mike Ashley, managing director Lee Charnley, and manager Rafa Benitez.

"I'm pleased with how the meeting went and the positive approach we are all taking together to build on what we have started this season," Benitez confirmed.
"There will be challenges ahead of course, the summer will not be easy, but the hard work has been going on for some time and we can now continue positively with the development of the squad ahead of the start of the new season.”

Newcastle have made six signings so far in the window lets take a look into who the new magpies are:

Florian Lejeune - The 26 year old frenchmen joins for 8.7m on a five year deal, Rafael Benítez had this to say on his new man “He’s good with both feet, big and good in the air, He is equally adept at playing as either a defender or a midfielder, but plays mostly as a centre back.

English 22 year old winger Jacob Murphy signed from Norwich City for a fee reported to be £12.5m

Murphy, whose parents are from the north east, said: "It was a childhood dream of mine to represent Newcastle and the opportunity is now here. I can't wait to get started."

"He's a young and talented player and hopefully he can develop even more here," Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez told the club's official website.

José Luis Sanmartín Mato, commonly known as Joselu, has signed on a three-year contract for £5m from stoke

The 27-year-old, who has also played at Real Madrid, Celta Vigo and Hoffenheim, spoke to us in an interview "I feel very happy, because I have signed for a very big club," said Joselu. Benitez added: "Obviously he has experience of English football and the Premier League. We think if we can exploit his full potential he will be a good signing for us.

"He knows and accepts the challenge we've given him at Newcastle and he's keen to come and fight for a position in the team.”

Javier Manquillo - Newcastle have completed the signing of former Liverpool and Sunderland defender Javier Manquillo from Atletico Madrid for an undisclosed fee.

The Spain Under-21 right-back has signed a three-year contract with the Magpies, who were promoted back to the Premier League last season.

"He has a lot of motivation because he has a point to prove," said Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez.
"I'm very happy to be here," said Manquillo "From the first moment that Rafa Benitez called me I just knew that I had to come here, to such a big club.”

Mikel Merino - Born on 22 June in 1996, the 21-year-old from Pamplona, Spain has signed on a season long loan from German side Borussia Dortmund. He plays primarily as a defensive midfielder but can be used in the centre of midfield and at centre-back.

"It feels good and I'm very happy to be here, to be part of this club. I'm looking forward to touching the ball, meeting my new team-mates and starting to play football.
"I know it's a great club and a really nice city. I had different options but I think this is the right place for me to play.”

Rafael Benítez spoke to us about the new boy ‘He has a lot of quality on the ball and is keen to learn"Mikel is a midfielder with talent, an under-21 international for Spain. He's a good size, has quality on the ball and he's very, very focused and professional. Hopefully he's the kind of player we can improve a lot - he certainly has the mentality to get better and better.

“He comes from a top side in Dortmund and although he did not play too much last season, he was signed as a young, talented player and to be signed by a club like that shows that he has something good. He has to show what he has, and hopefully he can enjoy playing here for a long time."

Christian Atsu - The Magpies have now exercised an option to sign him for an undisclosed fee and the winger has penned a four-year deal.

Manager Benítez said: "We are happy to sign a good player.
"He's shown us that he's a good professional and someone who is very keen to learn and improve, Christian has been a key part of our promotion campaign and he wants to help us to build something for the future.”

With incomings there are outgoings, and it looks like Newcastle could shift 3 players, Jack Colback, Mohamed Diame and Henri Saivet have been transfer listed and told by Rafa Benitez that they do not feature in his plans

In other news rumours are floating around that newcastle could be in for another 3 players, Dennis Praet from Sampdoria, Nicolas Tagliafico an Argentine left back and Portuguese youngster Daniel Braganca could all join the “Rafalution”

GOod luck mate, things look like they're about to get interesting for Newcastle, a top half finish could well be on the cards!

2017-11-09 21:46#247101 mgriffin2012 : GOod luck mate, things look like they're about to get interesting for Newcastle, a top half finish could well be on the cards!

Thank you ! hope you will follow the journey !

Jack Colback, Mohammed Diame and Henri Saviet have left Newcastle, Colback joins Hull for 6.5m, Diame has joined swansea for 7.5m and Saivet has joined Leicester for 10m, bringing Rafa a warchest of 24m to add to his 10m starting budget, it will be interesting to see if Rafa dips into the transfer market.