Christian Atsu has a slight knee injury, and that will probably keep him out of the side until the end of the season which is marked by our home game with Chelsea in 12 days time – Sunday 13th May.
And then all the stuff about transfers and Newcastle being interested in hundreds of players will begin.
We hope we can make some good signings early in the transfer window.
Rafa may even insist on that before signing a new contract to stay on Tyneside.
He could demand the Newcastle hierarchy bring some of his top targets into the club early in the summer; that would call them into action.
Christian Atsu has made a heartfelt plea for the club to keep Rafa at the club long term.
Chrisitan Atsu – heartfelt plea to keep Rafa long term on Tyneside
This is what Christian had to say on Sky Sports:
“We need him to stay because we love working with him, the fans love him, the Board loves him.”
“We are giving him all the support and we are hoping that he will stay and will be with us for many years.”
“Without him, things would have been difficult. We worked so hard all season, we had a great manager, and the fans were behind us in each and every game, home and away.”
“We have 52,000 fans supporting us and we are so happy for the supporters, so proud of ourselves too, that we are staying in the Premier League.”
As we mentioned in a previous article today this is the third summer running there has been some doubt about Rafa staying at Newcastle, so we hope this time a deal between the two parties can be reached quickly.
All Ashley has to do is to agree to everything Rafa wants to do at Newcastle.
Mike – the price of the Newcastle club will then rise dramatically – trust me.
🙂
Comments welcome.
Here’s Elvis singing I Want You I Need You I Love You from a hundred years ago.
210 comments so far
Tsunki
May 2, 2018 at 8:22 AM
Comment #201The heartening thing about Benitez pushing for an academy surely is that he has long term commitment at heart. Always a good indicator of motive.
Tsunki
May 2, 2018 at 8:23 AM
Comment #202…improved….academy…
Jib
May 2, 2018 at 8:29 AM
Comment #203Rafa has said about his passion for academies
“demasiadas veces he comprado buenos jugadores
quién podría haber sido mejor si hubieran adquirido
mejores hábitos futbolísticos en sus años formativos”
That too many times he has bought good players
who could have been better if they had acquired
better footballing habits in their formative years.
Nicky the ball tosser
May 2, 2018 at 8:30 AM
Comment #204Infer? Source and explanation please.
Nicky the ball tosser
May 2, 2018 at 8:33 AM
Comment #205Yeah, ok, not at all my intention to imply Rafa’s a quitter. Apologies.
Munster Mag
May 2, 2018 at 8:49 AM
Comment #206Jaili said that ages ago, a few years, and whilst both can improve players, I would take Rafa all day long!
RobLeenio
May 2, 2018 at 8:53 AM
Comment #207lesh, thanks for your post on the accounts from last year, but your link is broken. Any chance you could summarise what you found interesting for us nuggets with no accountancy expertise?
AncientC
May 2, 2018 at 8:55 AM
Comment #208‘Former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique is at risk of pricing himself out of the job (Arsenal) by demanding £25m-per-year. (Mirror)’
Shouldn’t that be ‘The Weekly World News.’ £25 million a year, ha.
OneAlanShearer
May 2, 2018 at 8:56 AM
Comment #209I just hope rafa signs. The alternative does not bare thinking about. It’s pivotal to our short and long term future. Ashley would off his rocker if he didn’t just give rafa what he wants..
magscar
May 2, 2018 at 9:13 AM
Comment #210Although Rafa has left clubs by not renewing and it remains a possibility here I think we need to recognise that given Rafa’s age and the length of time it takes for football projects to be realised he would be loath to do so.
How many comparable projects with the extensive gains achievable are out there?
Rafa is having to deal with a wily owner with a different agenda but hopefully there are enough points at which their respective ambitions coincide for a viable deal to emerge from the negotiations.
If a sale is not likely any time soon (and Ashley will certainly be aware of whether this is likely) this has to inform his approach as surely he wants to retain Rafa either way albeit for perhaps different reasons.
Sometimes in business there are windows of opportunity when say a sale is more likely. One such seems to have passed and although seemingly all the reasons for Ashley to have sought a sale last year do remain the signs are ( no realistic bid matches his valuation) that the window remains at best ajar but is closing.
That being the case then like it or not as Rafa would prefer to stay (just not at any cost) and Ashley needs him more than ever the likely scenario is that a way will be found to reach an agreement. Hardly ideal but if it can work then it has to be better than anything we have had under Ashley hitherto.
The talk of academy development is an interesting one as not only does it suggest a longevity in Rafa’s thinking (although he is so professional that no doubt he would have that in mind even if leaving is a possibility) but isn’t there something in FFP rules about investment in infrastructure not falling foul of there rules?
As Nicky has implied Ashley investing in that (as opposed to player recruitment) might be a temptation as it would increase the club’s assets and make a future sale more attractive.
What Ashley has done in the past is undoubtedly a way to measure what could happen but using only that and not the coming together of a unique situation is not the best way to consider outcome.