Rafa Benitez Looks to Capture his Second Transfer of the Summer Following Dubravka Signing
Just days after making Martin Dubravka's move to Newcastle a permanent one for £4m from Sparta Prague, Rafa Benitez has already turned his attention to his second summer target.
According to NUFCBlog, the Newcastle boss has decided to remain in the UK to pursue transfer targets rather than go away for a well deserved holiday. The Spaniard claims he wants at least five new faces to come through the door at St James' park this summer, and will stay in the UK to "push for further incoming deals."
It seems many Newcastle fans hope that Kenedy will be one of those names. After impressing on loan from Chelsea last season, the Toon Army hope that Benitez can convince the 22-year-old to come back to Newcastle - on a permanent deal.
However Kenedy's agent is keeping his client's options open as he targets other possible moves for the Under-23 Brazilian international. With Arsenal, Liverpool and Bayern Munich reportedly linked with Chelsea's left sided player, Newcastle might find themselves in a battle to capture the player's signature on a permanent basis.
That being said Newcastle fans must be pleased with their manager's eagerness to secure players early on in the transfer window.
It's suggested that Benitez also wants a right back, a central midfielder, a winger and a striker, and will look to strengthen all these areas before the transfer window closes.
With Benitez looking to make previous loan deals permanent ones, it seems Rafa is focused on keeping the squad that finished on a good run of form last season together before looking to bring in any other possible targets.
As well as buying early, if Benitez can offload players such as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba and Matz Sels, then the money from these transfers and the £50m Premier League TV revenue means the Magpies might see more than five new faces come in this summer.