Rafa Benitez says that he knew after his first post-season meeting with club owner Mike Ashley back in May that he would not be staying at Newcastle United for another year.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday from Dalian in China, where he is preparing for his Chinese Super League game against Henan Jianye on Sunday, Benitez says the conditions attached to continuing at the club for another year meant staying was never a viable option.

That much became clear when Ashley and Benitez met on May 16 in London. Contact continued in June but there was never any real prospect of Benitez staying, given the differing visions of club and manager.

Rafa Benitez has revealed he knew in May he would not be remaining as Newcastle boss

Benitez, however, insists that he may yet return to England when his two-and-a-half-year deal with Dalian Yifang expires. He will be 61 and is confident that he will work in European football again.

Asked about the breakdown of talks with Newcastle and Ashley, Benitez said: ‘I would like not to talk too much about Newcastle United because we need to move forward. They need to think about the new season and I have a great challenge ahead of me. But I will say after the meeting in London on May 16 it was a clear decision for me and a few days later we told the club that we would not extend the contract.’

The Mail on Sunday understands that after the first meeting in London — which Ashley attended with managing director Lee Charnley, advisor Justin Barnes and Benitez’s representatives — Newcastle asked Benitez what he needed in order to stay.

That surprised Benitez’s negotiating team as they thought such things had been made clear in preliminary talks in March.

Benitez made his mind up shortly after a meeting with Mike Ashley (left) on May 16

They were only ever prepared to sign up for one more year because they felt trust was minimal and wanted to see how the season panned out. They asked for an £8million-a-year salary plus bonuses for staying up. It has been said that Benitez wanted £9.5m but that figure would only have been achieved if every target had been met.

Benitez felt he deserved an increase on the £6m-a-year he had earned previously, which is standard procedure in negotiating high-level football contracts. But he was offered broadly the same terms in base salary. A transfer budget of £50m was agreed and any cash made from sales would be at Benitez’s disposal.

Benitez’s team had some qualms about the fact that, if a buying club paid in instalments, Benitez could only spend the money which immediately came in. But that was not a deal breaker.

The impasse came, as ever, over control of the budget.

While Benitez had always accepted that the board would want to sell an existing player if an offer was good, he wanted to direct the recruitment for next season. Newcastle told him that was unrealistic given that he was only prepared to commit to one season.

The Spaniard informed the club of his decision a few days after the meeting in London

Ashley’s team insisted throughout that they wanted Benitez to stay. However, when Benitez returned to the training ground on Monday, June 17, he cleared out his study in anticipation of his departure.

The club emailed Benitez’s representatives on Monday, June 24 — reminding him that he was under contract until the end of the month. However, a few minutes after that email was received, the club issued the statement announcing Benitez’s departure.

Asked whether he could ever return to Newcastle under different ownership, he replied: ‘I expect to do well with Dalian Yifang and after that to come back to UK.

‘I don’t know when, but you’re always happy to come back where the people appreciate your effort and commitment and the Newcastle United fans have been one of the best in my career as a manager.

‘The only feeling I can have for the Newcastle fans is gratitude. I show my commitment from the first day and they support me all the time.

‘Even when things on the pitch were not going well, they were behind the team and me. So, I just can say they deserve the best that they can get.

‘I wish them all the best and I hope they can achieve their potential.’