Jamaal Lascelles, the Newcastle United captain, has urged the club to do everything needed to keep “special” manager Rafael Benítez after the team made sure of their place in the Premier League with a convincing win over Southampton.

Benítez is seeking a meeting with managing director Lee Charnley this week and is hoping to be given the green light to start recruiting for next season, as long as he is satisfied that he will have both the transfer and wage budget to improve the squad.

And Lascelles, who was made captain in Benítez’s first full season in charge in the Championship, even though he was one of the youngest players in the squad and the former Nottingham Forest defender has voiced the fears in the dressing room that their manager could leave at the end of the season.

“Of course, we want him to stay,” said Lascelles, whose leadership on and off the pitch has been integral to Newcastle’s upturn. “Since he’s been here, we’ve been doing really well. Even in the season we got relegated, he came in and we started winning games. In the Championship season we came first, 10th last year [in the Premier League] and now we are finishing strong this year.