Rafa Benitez to get extra Tyne

Newcastle may have already secured their most important signing of the Summer with Rafa Benitez announcing that he will stay on as Manager as the club prepares for life in the English Championship next season.

Benitez came into the Newcastle hotseat with 10 matches to go and although he masterminded an unbeaten run for the final 6 matches it wasn’t enough to keep the side in the Premier League after Sunderland’s form was just that little bit better towards the end of the season

When Benitez signed his three year deal much was made of the fact that there was a breakage clause if Newcastle were to go down. Many felt that Newcastle and Benitez would then part ways with the Spaniard deciding to exercise that clause but it seems as if the Geordie love affair with Rafa has been enough to convince him to stay

What certainly would have helped was the 5-1 win on the final day over Tottenham. It won’t just be the astonishing result which would have changed his mind it was the near party atmosphere on the final day where Newcastle fans turned out in force to sing Benitez’s name from minute 1 to minute 90

The initial sticking point would have been how many players Newcastle will have to sell over the Summer in order to balance the books. One player who could be destined for the exit door is Andros Townsend who is believed to be nearing a move to Sporting Portugal. His form towards the end of the season has helped him get into to the provisional England squad and his talents will no doubt be missed if he does depart this Summer. The key now for Benitez will be to make sure there isn’t a raft of departures following Townsend

But there will be celebrations on Tyneside Today as Rafa is not going anywhere and with him in charge you would have to make Newcastle favourites to go straight back up after another season in the English second tier