Rafa Benitez could not resist this dig at Jose Mourinho, even if he did not reignite their feud

Rafa Benitez may have been careful not to reignite his feud with Jose Mourinho by uttering anything too overtly inflammatory, but the Newcastle United manager could not forgo this opportunity to offer some subtle slights against his old foe.

Given that Mourinho had attempted to downplay the fierce nature of their rivalry - the Portuguese insisted it has “never been personal” between the pair, despite historic quotes appearing to prove otherwise - Benitez was never going to make scathing remarks about the Manchester United manager.

Instead, on the eve of Newcastle’s trip to Old Trafford, Benitez decided to draw attention to the one thing which Mourinho has always had access to throughout his managerial career: money.

The Spaniard has always been frustrated by Man United’s wealth and the natural advantage it gives to the Red Devils; and, given that Mourinho is once again benefitting from eye-watering transfer funds, Benitez was keen to highlight this.

While Benitez was afforded less than £40million to spend during the summer, Mourinho lavished more than double that on Romelu Lukaku alone over the summer, not to mention his other acqusitions. This having broken the world-record transfer fee the previous year in order to sign Paul Pogba.

“When I was in Liverpool people were saying ‘you have to win’. The difference between [Man] United and Chelsea at this time was massive,” Benitez replied when asked if the Red Devils should be aiming to win the title this season.

“After, it was Manchester City coming in and Arsenal was more or less there. You talk about Tottenham doing really well. Still they have to do something more to win it.