Rafael Benitez has dropped a huge hint that Cheick Tioté will be leaving Newcastle United this summer, as quoted by the Northern Echo.
Tioté has been widely touted to leave Newcastle United this summer following the Magpies drop down into the Championship and talks of the midfielder departing St. James’ Park has been gathering steam in recent times.
According to reports from Sky Sports, Tioté is wanted by Al Jazira and claims have been made that the Abu Dhabi club have put an offer on the table for the 30-year-old, who currently has only one year remaining on his current deal at St. James’ Park.
Perhaps as a result of the bid, Tioté did not travel with the rest of the squad for Newcastle’s friendly against Southend United on Tuesday night and there are genuine question marks regarding the future of the Ivory Coast international at the moment.
Unsurprisingly, manager Rafael Benitez was queried about Tioté following the game against Southend and the Spaniard went on to drop a huge hint that the former Twente star will be leaving Newcastle this summer.
Benitez replied when asked about the midfielder, “We have some players that are in the market because the clubs are asking for them, but we have to wait and see if we receive the right offers for the right players.
“Then we will move forward. The main thing for me is to be sure we can bring the players we need to improve the squad.”
