Is Rafa Benitez Geordie Sure?

Newcastle celebrated promotion to the Premier League last night with an emphatic 4-1 win over Preston North End at St James Park. The celebrations may well have gone into the night on Tyneside but life in the top flight almost starts straight away as Rafa Benitez will now be planning for next season.

If Newcastle are not to be caught up in another relegation dogfight then they are going to have to spend in the Summer and it’s not just maintaining top flight status as a reason for expenditure but also maintaining Rafa Benitez in the Newcastle hotseat.

There’s no understating the work that Benitez has done this season as he has managed to get Newcastle promoted at the first time of asking, a feat that so many other clubs have failed to do. Just look at Aston Villa and Norwich to see how tough this league can be.

But for all the positive work that the former Valencia and Liverpool boss has done he will almost have to start again when building a team which it fit for the purpose of the Premier League. Newcastle have a very strong Championship side as results will have obviously proved but whether they can all take the leap up remains to be seen.

That is of no detriment to the players who have done the job, but that’s exactly the case they have done the job in hand and now a new project begins. It’s a project that can only be undertaken with financial support from the board and they are going to have to spend money if they want to make their stay in at the top flight a long one.

Benitez spent a big amount of money last Summer, £50m in fact but most of that was offset by a big clear out as the likes of Moussa Sissoko, Georginio Wijnaldum, Andros Townsend all left of the club. Those transfers alone bought in funds in the region of £70m.

So although there was a sizeable expenditure it was easily negated by the money that came in from player sales. But this time around there will not be the ability to command transfers fees of the same size what with the players already on Newcastle’s books.

This is where the club board have to prove their mettle and show their willingness to spend over the summer. As we all well know it’s not just a case of throwing money at the wall and seeing that it sticks. If anyone has been guilty of that approach it has been Newcastle.

Therefore they are going to have to spend and spend wisely and with Benitez at the helm you get the feeling that the slapdash recruitment policy of the past will be a footnote in the clubs transfer history. Newcastle are going to have to need at least a half dozen proven Premier League names to boost their squad.

And with Newcastle being the club that they are that should not be all that hard a task to recruit some new names. There’s no doubting the size of the Tyneside outfit but they have been a sleeping giant for a while, can Benitez finally awaken the beast next season.

You do get the feeling that he has put himself in the shop window after his achievements this season and many a club chairman will have the Spaniard on their radars but it’s well documented that Benitez is enjoying life in Newcastle and is no apparent to move on.

Whether that is still the case a few months into the season remains to be seen. Newcastle need to give themselves the best possible chance of staying up and the only way is to join the madness of a Premier League transfer window. There may well be a whole raft of new names arrive in the off season but the most important bit of business will be making sure Rafa is ready for another tilt of the top flight on the toon.