Rafa Benitez reacts to Gini Wijnaldum's £25m sale to Liverpool

Newcastle United sold the midfielder this week to the Anfield club for £25million.

Wijnaldum had made it clear that he wanted to leave St James's Park in the wake of relegation.

And United manager Benitez felt it was a good deal – for both clubs.

Speaking after this afternoon's 4-0 win over Belgian side Sporting Lokeren, Benitez said: "I said before that we didn't need to sell, just if we wanted to sell."In this case, we have lost a very good player.

"But I think that was the best decision for him, for us.

"We want to be sure that the players here are really focus and understand what it means to be promoted for the club, the fans, the city.

"Gini was a good player, and we allowed him to go to a Premier League club.

"For us, the reality was good, because it was a good transfer, but also we keep a good team at the same time."