Rafa Benitez wants the majority of his Newcastle United recruits signed up by the start of pre-season – just as they were last summer.
Benitez is once again foregoing a summer break in order to rebuild his Newcastle United squad. Where previous managers were happy to let events take care of themselves when it comes to recruitment, Benitez wants to force the issue and there is no sign of his remarkable relentlessness receding.
Benitez was on Tyneside last week detailing minor tweaks that he wants at the training ground. Last summer, of course, he ordered structural changes in order to freshen up the environment the players were operating in and he’s asking for similar this season. He wants additional space in the player’s area and believes these Magpie marginal gains will again help create the sense of a club moving forward every close season.
But he knows that the real work to be done this summer is in recruitment, with Newcastle looking to overhaul a team that won the Championship last season.
Newcastle have been linked with more than 30 players since the curtain came down on the Championship season and supporters would be forgiven for thinking much of it was agent or ‘paper talk.
The truth is Benitez and his staff have hit the phones since promotion was assured and are carrying out extensive groundwork in assembling a list of players they think can add quality to Newcastle’s squad in the coming weeks and months.
Make no mistake, Benitez is spinning plenty of plates as he bids to make the high calibre additions that will lift both Newcastle’s level and send a message to the players that there is work to do if they’re going to manage the serious step-up in quality that promotion brings.
Take the centre-back slot, for instance. United have been watching Harry Maguire since February and had scouts at the Emirates to see him turning out for Hull in their Premier League defeat at Arsenal.
In previous summers Newcastle might have been content to play a cat and mouse game with the Tigers over the summer months but this close season Benitez has been busy assembling alternative lists of equivalent quality. Benitez likes Eliaquim Mangala, the Manchester City defender who was once the most expensive defender in English football, and feels that he could turn the France international into a Premier League performer.
Add others into the mix, too. Newcastle have struck up a fine relationship with Chelsea, where Benitez used to work, and are in prime position to land any one of the high calibre players they are prepared to loan out this summer. Tammy Abraham is one, with Chelsea keen to send him out on a season-long loan to a Premier League club next season.
But another worth watching is Kurt Zouma – a player Newcastle tried to sign when he was in Ligue 1. He has pace, ability to play from the back and composure on the ball – all high on Benitez’s check-list as he considers the next recruitment move.
What is striking is the amount of leg work Benitez and his team are carrying out. Background checks are being made on plenty of players and many of those linked HAVE been on Benitez’s radar.
He will also look to exploit contract clauses and any situation where the hand of selling clubs might be forced by a player’s reluctance to commit to a new deal. Burnley’s Andre Gray and Fulham’s Tom Cairney are both understood to be keen on a move to Newcastle.
Benitez is in a rush to get things sorted as soon as possible. He wants pre-season to be as intense and important as it was last season, when he laid the groundwork for a long and gruelling campaign on two-a-days at United’s Benton training base in the weeks before the campaign began.
He wants his summer signings to play a key role next season so it makes sense that United are keen to get them bedded in as soon as possible. Benitez would be entitled to take a break after a long and hard season, just as his predecessors were. But the message from the manager’s office is the sooner the better as Benitez refuses to rest on his laurels.