Much of the damage at St James’ Park had been caused by Ashley’s flawed decision making, but he has given Charnley more freedom to run the club in the way Benítez demanded. That has brought an end to a failed recruitment model, while Benítez has been left in charge of the football side of the business.

One of the key reassurances given to the Spaniard when he was persuaded to stay after relegation was that Ashley was willing to cover any losses in the Championship, which meant he would not be forced to sell players against his wishes.

It is not known how large those losses will be, as Newcastle were able to sell Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham Hostpur for £30m and Georginio Wijnaldum to Liverpool for £25m,which funded their own summer recruitment.

Chinese consortiums have been circling around a number of English clubs in recent months, taking control of four in the West Midlands – Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion. Another deal is expected to be ratified in the next few weeks, with Hull City the latest English club to attract buyers from the Far East. Sunderland owner Ellis Short also discussed a possible takeover with a Chinese group, but those talks ended without any sign of an agreement in the summer.