Rafa Benitez wants Newcastle United to offer him a deal that will help take the club back to being a top eight outfit in the Premier League.

That was the type of agreement Benitez was hoping for last summer after leading the team to a top 10 finish but the talks collapsed and some observers feel that the uncertain feeling over the manager's future have affected the side this term.

Newcastle go into the last 12 games with an eight-point gap between themselves and 10th spot.

But they find themselves on the same 25 point total after 26 games that they were sat on last season although back then they were just six points away from the top 10.

Benitez is confident of another strong finish but has put contract talks on ice as he looks to move in on Premier League safety.

When those discussions resume he would like some clarity on what type of transfer budget is on offer and whether the club are prepared to invest in the training ground and the Academy.

Benitez will showcase players like Sean Longstaff and Paul Dummett as a way Mike Ashley can save millions if he gets the youth system in a better working order.

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His last discussion with Ashley involved a brief mention of whether he would sign the five-year contract that is still on offer to him.

However, during Ashley's brief chat with Benitez, there was no assurance on his requests, only a reminder that the contract was a good financial deal for the ex-Liverpool boss.

Benitez is also keen to for the club's overall decision making process to work more smoothly.

He was left frustrated by the Miguel Almiron deal in which the overall transfer took over two months to complete - and the player almost didn't sign at all as his agent jetted out to Italy to hold talks with Napoli before United negotiated their position.

Ashley will see the signing of £16million Almiron as proof that he is committed to his manager but Benitez is stickler for small details and wants to know how much of a budget will be on offer in the summer.

He is hoping it can help transform the team from relegation candidates into a steady top flight team.

With United in profit, Benitez also hopes that there will be an opportunity to bring in more high profiles signings like Almiron rather than scraping around in the bargain basement and looking to cobble together loan deals like the one for Antonio Barreca from Monaco.

If he gets the green light to freshen up his squad with four or five new faces he could be prepared to sign on the dotted line again.

And we understand that should that be the case, Benitez will then move on some of his current squad members with Joselu, Rob Elliot, Rolando Aarons, Achraf Lazaar and Jamie Sterry likely to be made available for summer moves.

It is also believed that Benitez could have sold Joselu in the January window after receiving a tempting bid for the striker, but he felt that there was insufficient time to bring in a replacement and wanted to keep the ex-Stoke man as cover.

The summer could be a different story with interest in La Liga for Joselu plus one Chinese side who are keen to offer him a lucrative contract.

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But there is also interest in Benitez himself with AC Milan considering a new manager as Gennaro Gattuso continues a fight to keep his job.

Indeed, there is talk of a high profile replacement for the ex-Rangers man with Benitez and Arsene Wenger linked with the post according to sources in Italy.