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Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has been accused of being motivated by money and engineering his exit from Newcastle United by Magpies owner Mike Ashley.

The Spaniard returned to the Premier League with Newcastle in March 2016, and signed a new three-year contract to stay at St James' Park that summer despite the club failing to avoid relegation.

Clinching an immediate return to the top-flight, Benitez became a highly-popular figure with fans and oversaw 10th and 13th finishes before leaving the club at the end of his deal this summer following mass speculation about his future.

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The former Reds boss has since taken over at Chinese club Dalian Yifang in a deal worth £12million-a-year, with Steve Bruce replacing him in the dugout at Newcastle - much to the displeasure of supporters.

And while Ashley is full of praise for the job Benitez did at Newcastle, admitting he didn't want the former Liverpool boss to leave, he did not hold back when slamming the manner of the Spaniard's exit.

"If you come out and say the things he did you would think it was football club first, Rafa second, money third," Ashley tried to explain to the Daily Mail. "I'd say it was money first, Rafa, then the club last.

(Image: LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP/Getty Images)

"He took the totally soft option, took the money and went to China. That disappoints me. If he'd gone back to Real Madrid, or a top six club in the Premier League, I get it. But it was about money and all he had to do was say that from the beginning.

"My view always was we had to keep Rafa. For my own personal safety we had to keep Rafa. I thought he had us offside, he had us cornered, it wasn't fair, it wasn't right, I've been totally out-manoeuvred, I probably shouldn't own a football club, it's ridiculous, but I'm a big boy."

He continued: "Every time with Rafa it was impossible – there was always another thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. He asked for a 50 per cent pay increase and I think he did that because he knew it couldn't work. And if we had agreed to that, I think it would have been something else. And everyone thinks we lost him because we wouldn't pay a couple of quid more. He had the microphone and we didn't.

(Image: STR/AFP/Getty Images)

"Looking back, though, it doesn't really matter what Rafa asked for because I think the Chinese thing was done. He had talked about what he could earn in China previously. We were not even slightly surprised by that move.

"I'm not disappointed in him as a manager – he did an excellent job. It puzzles me why any fan thinks I wouldn't want him. I'm not the thickest person on the planet. Why wouldn't I want excellence? Why wouldn't I want this manager? Accuse me of many things, but not that. We couldn't have done any more."

Ashley follows in the footsteps of former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel, who infamously did not enjoy a good relationship with Benitez at Anfield, who previously hit out at his move to China earlier this summer.

Meanwhile, Benitez previously spoke about his Newcastle departure earlier this summer, hinting that Ashley's management for the club was a contributing factor in his decision to leave.

"Unfortunately, it became increasingly clear to me that those at the top of the club did not share the same vision," he said."

"I’m very sad about that, but I do not regret for one moment my decision to come to Tyneside and I’m very proud about what we achieved together."