Mike Ashley will take Rafa Benitez and his winless Newcastle team out for dinner this week in an effort to build relationships after a turbulent start to the season.

Sportsmail can exclusively reveal that the owner is planning to travel to Tyneside and will foot the bill for a meal for the manager, his staff and players.

Ashley witnessed first hand on Saturday just how bad the mood is around St James' Park, although the source of the discontent is a summer of underinvestment which has seen the Magpies lose their first four home matches for the only time in their 126-year history.

Rafa Benitez watches on as his Newcastle side fall to another defeat in the Premier League

Mike Ashley was in the stands watching, and he will take the squad out for dinner this week

There was also a close-season dispute over player bonuses for a second year running and, after intervening to resolve the issue, we understand that Ashley has kept open a line of communication with captain Jamaal Lascelles.

We have also been told that managing director Lee Charnley has been working behind the scenes to bring Ashley and Benitez closer - they have met only three times in two-and-a-half years - and this week's visit, coupled with the owner's reappearance at games, is said to be the first step towards bridging that void.

This has come to the backdrop of fresh takeover talk with former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon looking for investors.

Outside the stadium, Ashley will likely have been aware of more protests against his ownership

Benitez, meanwhile, is revered by the Newcastle faithful despite a tough start to the season

We understand he has approached Ashley's lawyers - who confirmed the club is for sale - but was told to return with an offer rather than quote him an asking price.

Any proposed takeover, then, would appear a long way off and Newcastle's best chance of a revival is Ashley doing all he can to keep happy a manager he is lucky to have.

At least his return to St James' on Saturday after a 16-month absence would have made him realise just how desperate matters are on the pitch.

There has long since been talk of Benitez and Leicester, speculation which intensified when Claude Puel looked set to be sacked at the end of last season.

The link is fuelled by Benitez's friendship with compatriot Eduardo Macia, the head of recruitment at the King Power Stadium who he worked alongside at Valencia and Liverpool.

Leicester beat the hosts 2-0 thanks to goals from Harry Maguire (centre) and Jamie Vardy

Newcastle summer signing Yoshinori Muto grimaces after missing a chance at St James' Park

But Puel survived in his post and Benitez, having just taken the Magpies to a 10th-placed finish, was excited by the prospect of a European challenge after what he hoped would be an ambitious summer in the transfer market.

And why would he swap Newcastle, with all the potential he so enthusiastically talks about, for Leicester, a club whose 2016 title win was a rare spike on an otherwise middling history?

Well, on Saturday he had his answer.

Leicester did not have to play particularly well to win, they simply had better players in every department, as tends to happen when you spend money on quality.

Both clubs, for example, have signed young English wingers from Norwich City. Leicester's James Maddison, at £22million, was the reason Gareth Southgate was in attendance and so good was the 21-year-old that he is sure to win a first England call-up this week.

Leicester's players celebrate with their fans high up in the stands at St James' Park on Saturday

Jacob Murphy was on Newcastle's bench and has started just 15 times in 14 months at the club

Newcastle, meanwhile, had Jacob Murphy on the bench, a £12m player who has started just 15 times and scored once in 14 months on Tyneside.

Then there is Harry Maguire, scorer of Leicester's second from a wicked Maddison corner. He was on Newcastle's radar when Hull were relegated last year but deemed not good enough, especially at £17m. Maguire was the best player on the pitch.

Benitez's biggest outlay remains Murphy. His club, under Ashley, do not want to compete with Leicester when it comes to the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho (£25m), Ricardo Pereira (£22m) or Wilfred Ndidi (£17m).

Ashley is prepared to risk minimum spend for maximum gain but that gamble will backfire this season on the evidence of their sorry start.

He will, then, have to dig deeper than a round of fillet steaks if he is to break bread with Benitez.