Rafa Benitez inks deal to stay with relegated Newcastle
With Newcastle United relegated from the English Premier League, it seems that they will have Rafa Benitez for a while longer .
After being relegated from the English Premier League with 37 points, Newcastle United are set to take part in their second stint in the English Championship since 2008. They Magpies are now in rebuild mode and have started their way down to the second division with keeping their recent manager on board.
According to a report from the Sun, Rafa Benitez has signed a three-year-deal to remain Newcastle’s manager and try to bring his team back into the English top flight.
The club held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to confirm the Benitez signing.
The former Real Madrid manager Benitez joined Newcastle on March 11th, after the club was spiralling down the table and looked to be heading for relegation. The club spent a lot of money last summer, and player’s were not performing to their potential.
In came Benitez, a man who won a Champions League title in 2004-05 with Liverpool, and two Europa League titles with Valencia and Chelsea. It seemed he was over qualified to take the job to save Newcastle from relegation, but even he could not save them. However, he did guide them to a 3-4-3 finish and were able to defeat Tottenham Hotspurs 5-1 in the last match of the season, a match that saw the Spurs fall to third in the league behind arch rival Arsenal.
Now Benitez is set to take on a new challenge in his managerial career. His new task is to show he can be an elite coach, and what better way to do that than take a relegated Newcastle side out of the gruelling schedule of the English Championship, and push their way back into the EPL.
It won’t be easy for Benitez, but he did prove to spark something in his new team when he took control in early March.
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