News about the OPA in Newcastle: Sheikh Khaled wants Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger to be his boss

Rafa Benitez is threatened if the Newcastle takeover project continues.

Billionaire Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Abu Dhabi-based group have their own management goals, with Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger at the top of the list.

Current owner, Mike Ashley, has suspended negotiations with boss Benitez over a new contract, while talks are taking place on the sale of the Premier League club to Sheikh Khaled.

The Benitez agreement expires at the end of the month.

However, we can reveal doubts within Camp Ashley about the controversial reign of Tyneside, Sports Direct's mogul. is in fact about to end.

There was no record of the £ 350 million he asked to leave the club he had bought 12 years ago for 134 million pounds.

An Ashley source said, "Mike is starting to think that it's another publicity stunt that will eventually leave the club unsold. He now wants the Sheikh's representatives to stand up or shut up. We already had fake sheikhs. He hopes it's not another.

Worrying for Toon fans, the takeover talks put Benitez's future in the background.

Until the club's bid for the Middle East was announced last week, it was clear that talks on a new deal for Benitez, 59, led an underfunded team in the Middle East. away from the relegation of Premier League for a second consecutive season, had been advanced.

The agreement between former Liverpool manager Chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid expires this summer and the man considered a messiah by the Toon army has been linked to a number of jobs, including the more recent in Italian heavyweight Roma.

And MirrorFootball can reveal that when it was presented to Sheikh Khaled's representatives, a quick deal was needed to help determine Benitez's future. It was said that there were other options.

Mourinho is available after being sacked by Manchester United in December, while management giant Wenger has not yet resumed the match after the end of his 22-year reign at Arsenal last summer.

Previous takeovers in Newcastle – including an endless involving businesswoman Amanda Staveley and another earlier this year led by Peter Kenyon, former Chelsea boss and Manchester United – have failed.