Rafa Benitez ready to commit future to Newcastle

The club hope Benitez will sign a revised contract at St James’s Park in the coming days.

If there are no unforeseen hitches, the 56-year-old will be confirmed as the club’s manager for the next three years later this week.

Benitez has held talks with owner Mike Ashley and managing director Lee Charnley since the end of the campaign.

The Spaniard met Ashley for the first time after the club’s season-ending 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur eight days ago and had further discussions with Charnley a day later.

They thrashed out a way forward and a revised contract.

Lawyers have formalised the agreement between Benitez and the club over the past few days.

Benitez – who has a clause in his original contract allowing him to leave this summer now the club has been relegated – has been given assurances on a number of issues.

The 56-year-old had wanted control of transfers and funds to spend in the next two transfer windows.

These assurances have been formalised in writing and Benitez – who started the season as Real Madrid manager – is understood to be ready to commit his future to the club.

Work has been ongoing on pre-season and transfers alongside the Benitez discussions.