Newcastle will consider handing Rafa Benitez a one-year deal as a quick fix to their contract stand-off.
The Spaniard is in talks to extend his current deal, which ends in June.
Ideally, the club wants Benitez to sign up for a longer period, so that any players he buys are more settled, and not worried about getting discarded by a successor.
But time is short and the 59-year-old could be tempted by a one-year extension that would allow him to test whether the club live up to their promise of at least £100million investment in new players over the next two seasons.
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Benitez hinted on Saturday that he wants to remain in England for family reasons. His daughter Agate is still at school, and it is two years before she’ll be settled at university.
“For my wife, it is a relief to stay in England," said the former Liverpool and Chelsea boss, whose Magpies topped the 40-point mark considered to ensure safety from relegation with Saturday's 3-1 home win over Southampton. "My daughters, one is at Uni, the other will go to Uni. That will be the time when we have to sit down and decide.”
A major sticking point is the future of loan star Salomon Rondon, who has been influential and scored nine goals this season.
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The club insist they are not blocking any move to sign the 29-year-old on a permanent basis but have to wait and see what any such deal with his club, Championship promotion chasers West Brom, would look like. They reckon there will be a £20m market for the Venezuela international in the summer.
If West Brom do not get promoted — going up automatically looks beyond them with three games to go, but they seem sure to be in the play-offs — it could force a sale, but Newcastle chiefs are cautions about his age and a price that has been forced up.
They tried to extend Rondon’s season-long loan in January to include next season too, but got knocked back.
