Newcastle ready to scupper any Irons Rafa move

Any hopes West Ham may have had of temping Rafa Benitez into the manager’s job have taken a dent with Newcastle reportedly attempting to woo their manager into a new deal.

As ClaretandHugh revealed last night, the Irons board and Magpies owner have had a frosty relationship and such a switch would never have been easy anyway.

And despite the club having no plans to replace Slaven Bilic at this stage, the Spaniard’s name always jumps to the top of the list when candidates for Slav’s job are being discussed.

Benitez is contracted until 2019 anyway but some reports claim Ashley is ready to offer him a new contract which would scupper any Hammers move.

Indeed it’s the constant speculation which has probably sparked the Newcastle into action

The Magpies are making a decent start to the new season and Ashley is keen to build bridges with his manager after issues arose between them over missed transfer targets in the window.