Rafa Benitez has warned Mike Ashley that he ‘expects’ the money Newcastle did not spend in August to be available for him to spend on the squad in next month’s January transfer window – sending a clear message to the NUFC owner ahead of their scheduled ‘meeting’.
Whilst takeover talks appear to be progressing (albeit at a slow pace), Benitez has admitted on several occasions over the past few weeks that he remains in the dark with regards to how much he’ll have to spend in January – with some fearing he won’t get a penny should Ashley still not have sold up this time next month.
In his pre-Leicester press conference today, Rafa has addressed the issue once again, stating quite frankly that he expects the money Ashley didn’t spend in August to be available to him in January:
“I am expecting that the money we did not spend in August to be available in January.”
“We are having a meeting.
We will see if the money we didn’t spend in August will be available.”
Rafa makes a valid point here. We were scrambling for a striker and a left-back (and no doubt a keeper and no.10 too) in the closing stages of the summer window, yet not a penny was spent on deadline day, with Rafa left frustrated at our failure to land yet more targets.
With this in mind, surely there is money left over to spend, and Rafa is rightfully arguing his case here.
Hopefully there meeting goes well and Rafa is given some form of solid assurances ahead of next month’s crucial winter window.
In the mean time, here’s what Rafa had to say when asked about Ashley’s leaked meeting with Amanda Staveley this week:
Rafa asked about Ashley/Staveley meeting: "I don't know because I was not there. I have heard what is going on because I see what you have. I haven't been briefed about what was said. I have to just concentrate on games. I can just influence our on-field issues" #nufc
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) December 8, 2017
