Benitez asks interesting question of Mike Ashley after addressing his potential January investment

Rafa Benitez has made a brilliant point when questioning Mike Ashley’s potential investment ahead of the January window, stating that, as a businessman, he must know that he’ll only get his asking price for NUFC if we are performing better on the pitch – reminding him that new signings are essential to make that happen.

A potential takeover is still bubbling away in the background it seems, with Ashley and Staveley spotted meeting for a Curry almost a week ago, however hopes of new investors being in for next month’s transfer window have all but died.

This doesn’t mean a takeover won’t be happening, but it does mean that Rafa Benitez may have to rely on the financial backing from Ashley in January – a worrying prospective given his tendency to take a risk and our dire need for squad improvements.

Here’s what Benitez has had to say to Ashley, explaining just why it might be in his interest to invest next month:

“I will have a meeting and I will ask, we will talk about what we have and what we need.

“I think he [Ashley] is a businessman. A businessman will have a clear idea about what he needs to do with his business to improve his business and then it will be much better?”

“At any football club in the world, the value depends on the first team; on what you’re doing on the pitch.

“If you’re in the Premier League  and things are not going well it’s more difficult (to sell for a high price) & if you’re in the Championship it has less value.”

Spot on from Rafa.

The gaffer then goes on to state his simple demands for January, admitting that he only wants someone to ‘write the cheques’ to give us a platform to deliver Premier League safety this season:

“I think it’s obvious that we have some positions that we have to reinforce. That has been my message from the beginning of the season.

“I want someone to write the cheques, that is good enough! I need to know where we are. I’m confident we can stay up, but we need help in some positions because as soon as we have some injuries then we have problems winning games.
 
“Hopefully we can do what we have to do and I will be positive after January.”

Some interesting comments from Rafa, with the first few lines being a subtle plea to Ashley..

Invest now, keep us up and you may just get your asking price?

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

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