Newcastle winning Kenedy race would prove point to Benitez

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Newcastle United are facing some serious competition as they look to try and sign Kenedy on a permanent basis.

With the loan deal to sign Kenedy proving to be a real masterstroke from Newcastle, it is little surprise that Rafa Benitez is keen to try and extend the move, with the Chronicle reporting last month that the Magpies plan to discuss potentially signing him permanently at the end of the season.

The Brazilian has been superb, scoring twice and contributing two assists to help take Newcastle right away from the bottom three in the Premier League with just a handful of games to go this season.

Perhaps unsurprisingly therefore, it appears that the Chelsea-owned youngster is attracting attention from elsewhere with Sky Sports reporting on their live transfer feed (09/04; 16:11) that Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have both asked the Blues to be kept informed regarding his availability as they consider potential moves.

Given the calibre of clubs reportedly eyeing a move, the Toon Army would be forgiven for feeling pretty pessimistic about their chances of keeping Kenedy for next season. But perhaps Mike Ashley should view the interest as the perfect opportunity to prove a point to Benitez.

There continues to be questions regarding how long Ashley will remain owner of the Magpies, but with the summer window looming, there seems to be a very good chance that he may be the man responsible for deciding just how much Benitez has to spend in the coming months.

And what better way for Ashley to convince Benitez to stick around – if there are any concerns regarding his future at St James’ Park – than to oversee a deal that would see Kenedy snub any potential bids that may come in from two of Europe’s biggest heavyweights and return to Newcastle on a permanent basis.

The 22-year-old appears to have the potential to be a talisman for the Magpies in the future if his form over the last few months is a sign of things to come.

So perhaps, after a couple of hugely frustrating windows, the potential challenge coming from Bayern and PSG may leave Ashley with the ideal chance to show Benitez exactly why he can realise his ambitions with Newcastle. Whether he relishes the challenge or not remains to be seen.