Celtic linked Rafa Benitez set to have crunch talks with Newcastle United this week

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Celtic-linked Rafael Benitez is set to have crunch talks this week with Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.

The Spanish tactician is apparently one of the leading contenders for the Celtic job. With Neil Lennon currently in the post, Celtic have been faltering, even if the Premiership title has been wrapped up.

Benitez is certainly one of the big names to have been linked with the post too. The work he’s done in England and abroad makes his CV one of the most impressive in Britain.

But despite that, the Spaniard is still set to discuss his future with Newcastle, and it seems he would be happy to stay on. Speaking in the Chronicle, Benitez said the following:

“Because we have been talking about this for a while my answer is always the same. We have a meeting coming soon, hopefully and then we will see where we are.

“I don’t know exactly (the date of the meeting). Hopefully this week but as soon as possible.”

Lennon has done himself no favours

Attention from many Celtic fans will now definitely turn to what’s currently out there as Lennon’s replacement. The nature of the 2-0 defeat to Rangers yesterday remains unacceptable. It’s difficult to see the Northern Irishman shrugging it off.

Benitez, however, would offer some real glittering star-power to the club if he joined. This is, after all, a man who has won three La Liga titles, the Champions League, and two UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues. His most recent achievement was bringing Newcastle straight up from the Championship and guiding them to a 13th placed finish in the Premier League.

When candidates like this are potentially up for grabs, Celtic should be doing all they can to lure them to Parkhead.

The fans deserve another big-name manager to come in and push us on once again. At the moment, the club is going through a bit of a lull after the Rangers defeat. We’re on the cusp of the treble treble, but incredibly there’s an injection of freshness needing put into our club again.

The Rangers loss makes Lennon even more off-putting. But it still sounds as though Benitez sees his future on Tyneside in any case. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on this week to see if those talks really do happen.