- Rafa Benitez says Newcastle were surprised after Anderlecht withdrew their bid
- They were set to re-sign Aleksandar Mitrovic before pulling out on deadline day
- Benitez says he could have allowed the striker to leave for several other clubs
Rafa Benitez has hit back at Anderlecht after they pulled out of a deadline-day loan move for Aleksandar Mitrovic despite the player travelling to Brussels.
The Serbian striker was all set to rejoin the club he left for Newcastle in a £13million deal in 2015 and had even spoken to journalists about his excitement at returning to the Belgian champions.
But Anderlecht told Newcastle with just a few hours of the window remaining that they could no longer complete the deal owing to the collapse of an outgoing transfer.
Rafa Benitez hits out at Anderlecht after they pulled out of a deal to sign Aleksandar Mitrovic
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Mitrovic – who has fallen down the pecking order under Benitez – very quickly rerouted to London and joined Fulham until the end of the season.
Benitez, though, was not happy with the Belgian club.
‘We were surprised with Anderlecht,’ he said. ‘The situation was strange. Anderlecht was saying, “Yes, yes, yes”, and then, “No”.
‘I had two or three Spanish clubs wanting him on loan and a French club. Anderlecht pushed and pushed. You cannot push the way they did and then not have a position. But we reacted well and that’s it.’
Benitez added: ‘Mitro wants to play in the World Cup and needs games. In the future it is not necessary to go to the end of the window so close.
‘But he wanted to play and needed to play. There is no problem, he is a nice lad.’
The Belgian side had agreed a £13m fee, but withdrew when an outgoing transfer collapsed