Rafa Benitez has been live on Sky Sports this morning and has spoken out about his future at the club, his happiness in the transfer market and his relationship with Mike Ashley – revealing that he is not happy with how the window has gone, but remains fully committed to the cause.
Interesting @NUFC360 @NUFC_Index @nufcfans pic.twitter.com/eaf1UhoW3c
— Minty (@minty_9) August 9, 2017
Speaking about the difficulties of the transfer market, Benitez refers to it as crazy once again and admits to some of the mistakes the club made earlier in the window that we are now ‘paying for’:
“It’s very hard. The prices are crazy. We missed some targets at the beginning and I think we are paying for that but hopefully we can find solutions to bring what we need. Sometimes it’s not what you want, it’s what you need and what you can afford now.
“It’s quite difficult for every team but especially the ones that do not have as much money as the others. The teams at the top have put the prices so high that if you go for average players they ask for big money, big commission, big wages. Everything is more difficult.
“Sometimes you have to sign what you can. Then it’s a tricky question because if you sign players people will say ‘Is it the player you wanted?’ Maybe it’s the fifth on the list but he’s still your player and you have to support him and make sure he’s good enough.
“We are trying to do our business.”
Benitez then commented on where Newcastle are at in the market stating the club are doing what they can with what’s available after missing out on some targets, but ‘cannot’ compete for top end £25m strikers that several fans are demanding:
“The story is as I said before we missed some targets at the beginning and now we are trying to do our best with what’s available.
“I can read our fans saying ‘Listen, now will sign a £25million striker’. We cannot. Sometimes they are not available. But if they are available the price is not £20million, the wages are not the same, and the commission of the agents is huge. I think we will try to do our best in the conditions that we are (in).
Finally, Rafa then commented on his future at the club, admitting that he is not happy with how things have panned out, but confirming he has ‘decided to stay’ and will do his very best to overcome the challenges ahead:
If this doesn't make Ashley realise we need funds for transfers, nothing will. pic.twitter.com/X0GvRzn9vc
— David Moat (@DavidMoat) August 9, 2017
“I am not happy. I am not happy with it but at the same time for me, it’s a challenge and I will try to do my best. If I decide to stay, it’s for the city, the fans, the stature of the club, to stay in England and in the Premier League. So I want to do my best but obviously every manager wants to improve. I’m happy with the players I have. The team spirit is quite good and hopefully we replicate that this season. “
“No, I decided to stay. When I decided to stay it’s because for me it’s a challenge. For me, I’m not totally happy with what we did but I will try to do my best, working very hard with people at the club to try and improve what we have at the moment.
“It’s very difficult (for me to walk away). My Chinese is not good enough (he says with a joke).
“No I try to do my best now. It has to be something you cannot control. At the moment I am fully committed to do the best that I can do now.
A revealing interview from the United boss. He remains upbeat and is clearly committed to the cause – which is a huge relief after ongoing talk that he is ‘on the brink’ – but you get the feeling that his frustrations must be nipped in the bud before this gets out of hand, and a few signings would go a long way to helping that.
