Green light for Rafa Benitez as he looks to return back to Newcastle.

Benitez has set his sights on an “emotional” return with the club’s £300million takeover close to completion via Daily Telegraph

Clear enough,  Steve Bruce will still be in charge until the end of the season, but no player shortlists have been drawn up over summer transfer and the speculation that the new C.E.O want their own man in charge will only heighten.

Rafa left the club last season after his contract expired and he went to China to manage Dalian Professional club, but the report claims the Spaniard “is interested in making a return under a new C.E.O”.

And he already has varieties of players he wants to recruit on Tyneside with John Stones and Ross Barkley at the top of the list.

John Stones, apparently, will likely be made available by Manchester City, and the CB will want to get regular football ahead of the postponed Euros next summer.

Ross Barkley is also in a similar situation and wants to secure a place in Southgate’s squad for the Euros and the return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek could see him drop further down the pecking order at Chelsea.

The bid for Newcastle, put together by Amanda Staveley, which has been backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Reuben Brothers, is currently in the hands of the Premier League.

If possible the transfer goes through Newcastle’s prospective new owners know that a move for Rafa Benitez will be popular with the fans after his three years previously with the club.

Moreover, the new backers would have to negotiate his Dalian pay-off after he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal last summer. He is also known to be earning £12million a year, around £230,000 a week, in the Chinese Super League.