Former Newcastle United midfielder John Barnes reckons Rafa Benitez can ‘put pressure’ on owner Mike Ashley to splash the cash in the summer - if he secures promotion.
Many fans see Ashley as the man who can scupper our chances of success if he continues to snub the Toon manager.
Even Rafa, himself, said last week: "He never tals to me".
But Barnes thinks Tafa can "coax" the owner into spending.
But it's an unhealthy situation.
Barnes, who played for the club between 1997 and 1999, was speaking to BBC Tees presenter Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough and feels that Benitez has a strong enough squad to see club into the Premier League.
He said: “If you are top of the league I can’t see that there are too many problems. Obviously Rafa is a fantastic manager and Newcastle will get promotion.
“Managers always want to sign players so Rafa will be disappointed that he didn’t manage to sign the players that he may have wanted, however I think that Newcastle still have a good enough squad. They have a big enough squad and have the best squad in my opinion, allied with a good manager who has the support of the fans.
“Rafa can put them [the board] under a bit of pressure and say if we get promoted, come July or August you need to spend a bit of money.”
And Barnes – who was top scorer for United in the 1997/98 season – reckons that Benitez will remain at St James’ Park next season.
He added: “Why go anywhere else than Newcastle? I played at Newcastle and the passion of the fans, the love of football that they have, 52,000 every week in the Championship? Why would he want to go anywhere else?”
John Barnes was talking to BBC Tees Presenter Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough . Goffy can be heard every Saturday on BBC Tees 95F / Digital Radio & online