Rafael Benitez comments on his relationship with Aleksandar Mitrovic

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Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has commented on his relationship with Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has told The Chronicle that his relationship with Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is better than people think.

The Magpies end their Premier League campaign this afternoon, travelling down to West London to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Benitez will be hoping to end the season on a high against the already-relegated Cottagers, before the attention fully turns to sorting out his future.

Today though, Benitez comes up against a ghost of his Newcastle past, as he will have to go up against Fulham striker Mitrovic – the man he let go last year.

The Serbian hitman struggled to nail down a place under Benitez even in the Championship, and it was no surprise when he left St James’ Park last year, initially joining Fulham on loan before making a £27m permanent move upon their promotion (Guardian).

Mitrovic has hit 11 Premier League goals this season, and will be looking to add to that tally today, potentially seeking some sort of revenge against Benitez.

However, Benitez has suggested that his relationship with Mitrovic is actually better than people think, and he simply felt that Newcastle needed something different to the former Anderlecht man in attack, prompting the move for Salomon Rondon.

“I’ve said so many times my relationship with Mitro is much better than maybe people think,” said Benitez. “I am a professional and I have to analyse whether, in my opinion, we needed him. But I’m really pleased he’s done well there and is scoring goals – although, hopefully not this weekend.”

“He’s a good player and he suits the style they play there. He loves football, he’s very competitive, I think he’s a good player. He will score goals for sure. It’s just we were looking for something different for us. Different players suit different tactics, and Salomon Rondon has done really well for us. As a team we needed to be solid and we needed to get results all together – and we did it,” he added.