Rafa Benitez reveals what Salomon Rondon told him after reporting back to Newcastle

Rondon and Yedlin only reported back to Newcastle United yesterday after playing for their countries in the USA on Tuesday night.

The pair – who played for Venezuela and USA respectively – have told Benitez that they are ready to play against Arsenal this afternoon, but Benitez is concerned that they will be tired.

“DeAndre and Salomon, they trained for the first time, so we have to see how they are,” said United’s manager.

“They have said they’re fine, but they always say this. Now we have to decide.

“They were training. They were fine. Now we have to make a decision.

“Players coming back, they all say (they are) fine, but maybe not.

“I remember at Valencia we had four players coming back from international duty. I was asking them, they all said ‘fine’. After 30 minutes, I had to change four. I couldn’t. We were a disaster.

“They all say they’re fine, but, after, the game is too much for them. We have three or four issues. They’re getting better, but we still have to be careful.”

Meanwhile, Benitez is also monitoring Kenedy, who has been carrying a groin problem.

“At the moment, he has some problems – some pain in the groin – so we’re working on that,” said Benitez.