Under-fire Graham Carr set to STAY at Newcastle

The long-serving chief scout had been expected to leave the relegated club this summer.

But the Gazette understands that Carr – whose record in the transfer market has come under instense scrutiny – will stay on at St James’s Park.

Manager Rafa Benitez yesterday committed himself to Newcastle for the next three seasons.

The 56-year-old had met Carr earlier in the day for talks.

But Benitez – who has been given control of incoming and outgoing transfers – would not be drawn on the future of Carr in his press conference.

Asked about the role of the 71-year-old, Benitez said: “What I have is the conviction that I can tell the fans that they don’t need to be worried about that.

“We will try to bring the best players possible, and we will try to have a very strong squad.

“I will take responsibility if we need to do it.

“I have had different meetings with different people, and I am quite happy. We will work hard and improve the team as much as we want.

“I don’t have any problem (with Carr).

“I don’t want to talk about that, because it is the first Press conference, but you will see that we can work hard and we can improve the team and it will not be a problem.”

The role of Carr, however, will change now Benitez has been given the final say on transfers.

Former Northampton Town manager Carr is under contract at United until 2020.