Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley has stated he does not wish to get into a public debate about Rafa Benitez's contract situation.
Benitez stated two weeks ago he was waiting for "answers" on certain aspects of his new deal with the expiration of his current deal set for June 30.
Charnley insists the club are still in dialogue with Benitez but when asked for an update, he said: "We don't want to comment on speculation about the manager's future.
"We would prefer for conversations between Rafa and the club to remain between us.
"We will communicate with supporters as soon as there is a formal update."
Much has been made about the club being up for sale in recent times and a high profile sale fell through earlier this year when Peter Kenyon failed to come up with funds for a takeover as part of a US consortium.
Charnley said: "As we sit here today Mike is still the owner of the club and as such we have to continue to operate business as usual and that, of course, includes planning for next season."
Charnley spoke about the Magpies moving forward.
He said: "Our financial position is healthy.
"We've had two years back in the Premier League and we had a good finish last year and we'll hopefully have a strong finish this year.
"With the cash available we want to move forward but it will take time."
United chiefs, however, insist that the club is still on the market despite recent claims Mike Ashley had taken down the For Sale signs.
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