Newcastle United have struggled in the Premier League so far in this campaign and were in desperate need to make some quality additions in the January transfer window. However, they were unable to bring in a marquee signing during the winter transfer period with the club’s only meaningful incomings being Kenedy from Chelsea, Islam Slimani from Leicester City and Martin Dubravka from Sparta Prague. The trio joined the Magpies on a loan deal until the end of the season. With Mike Ashley’s failure to sell the club to a new buyer, the Magpies are cash-strapped and Rafael Benitez was only allowed to operate on a tight budget last month.
The Tyneside club was unsuccessful in sealing moves for Daniel Sturridge from Liverpool and Nicolai Jørgensen from Feyenoord, which was highly frustrating for the Toon Army as they saw their side make a flurry of deadline day signings to salvage some reinforcements before the closure of the window. It remains to be seen whether the new recruits can boost Newcastle’s chances of avoiding the drop this season. Kenedy has already shown some glimpses of his talents on Wednesday when he helped the Magpies secure a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.
Although, the jury is still out for Slimani who is yet to lace up for the Tynesiders so far.
Newcastle United are currently in 14th place in the Premier League table with a tally of 24 points in 25 league matches. Rafael Benitez’s team still finds themselves a point above the drop zone and are in real danger of suffering the agony of being relegated to the English Championship at the end of the season. The Magpies need to pick up some crucial victories in the coming weeks to try and avoid getting themselves involved in a relegation dogfight going into the second half of their campaign.
With their failure to make a big name signing in January, only time will tell whether it will come back to haunt them. Benitez has already won the Champions League, FA Cup, La Liga title and the Italian Super Cup during his time with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Inter Milan respectively. He can be considered as one of the biggest managerial names in world football with a glowing C.V., who some of the European heavyweights can look to swoop in for. Hence, if the club fails to avoid relegation this season, it’s highly likely that he will end up leaving St. James Park in search of fresher adventures.
It remains to be seen what lies ahead in the future of Rafael Benitez and whether Newcastle United can hang on to him in the coming months.
