Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has admitted that convincing Lee Charnley to purchase Matt Ritchie was a tough job.
The Spanish manager told the Chronicle, “Lee Charnley was phoning me to say the ‘price is that’ and we were not expecting that
“I was saying ‘please, he is an important player, he has experience, we have to do it we cannot be worrying about a couple of million when we are in this position where we have to get out of this division.”
The 27-year-old joined the Magpies from Premier League club Bournemouth during the summer. Many questioned whether the deal was worth it considering that the club had to fork out £12 million to secure a deal.
However signing the player looks to have been a good move has he has delivered solid performances to help Benitez’s men push for promotion back to the Premier League .Should Newcastle be promoted, there is no doubt that Ritchie will be a key part of their aims for the Premier League.
