Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has gone on to reveal that he rejected an offer for Yoan Gouffran this summer.
Gouffran failed to impress in the Premier League after joining Newcastle United from Bordeaux back in 2013 and it was widely expected that the Frenchman would be leaving St. James’ Park during the summer following the Magpies’ relegation into the Championship.
Much to the surprise of many though, Gouffran has found a new lease of life at Newcastle and has managed to establish himself as a key player under Rafael Benitez during the current campaign.
To continue his great run of form, Gouffran scored a magnificent volley in Newcastle’s 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night and following the game, Benitez has gone on to make a revelation regarding the 30-year-old.
Benitez stated that there were indeed offers on the table for Gouffran this summer but the club decided to keep hold of the attacker after seeing his positive attitude during training.
The Spaniard told Sky Sports, “I was happy with him during pre-season. I was expecting some offers for him – we had one that was not good enough and after, I was expecting maybe no-one would come and I would be happy, so that was the situation.
“We were watching him closely and he was training really well and the staff, we were talking about it could be better to keep him, and that’s it. I am really pleased because when you have someone working so hard, he deserves some luck sometimes.”
