‘Just as the takeover happened’ - Caulkin reveals PIF wanted 62 y/o to be NUFC boss before Howe

George Caulkin has been speaking on Pod on the Tyne about how PIF contacted Rafael Benitez prior to approaching Eddie Howe as Newcastle United manager.

In what was a whirlwind few weeks for Newcastle United, the fans and their new owners PIF as they bought the club, sacked Steve Bruce, got rejected by Unai Emery very publicly, which led Paul Merson to question if they had a clue what they were doing, before ultimately appointing Eddie Howe.

However, despite Merson’s comments, it’s proved that PIF did in fact know what they were doing with Howe guiding the Magpies into the top half of the Premier League and also recruited incredibly smart during the January transfer window, but if Rafael Benitez had taken up PIF’s calls, it could have been very different.

Caulkin has revealed that Benitez and his agents received calls as soon as the takeover was pushed through.

(29:18) “So, when he talks about permission of course he’s talking about the takeover not being given the go-ahead to go through, but it then did go through and Rafa, of course, was at Everton.

So we’d heard that he did get a call or people close to him got a call just as the takeover happened.”

TIF Thoughts on Benitez potentially returning to Newcastle…

Caulkin and Alan Shearer had the pleasure of sitting down with the former Toon boss for The Athletic in which he spoke about how PIF did in fact call him when the takeover went through, but with the Spaniard still at Everton, he gave the Toffees his word and continued at Goodison Park.

Benitez would have been an overwhelmingly popular appointment on Tyneside for what he did during his previous tenure at the club, sticking with them into the Championship, winning the title and then guiding them into a top-half