Former Newcastle United right-back Jesus Gamez has hit out at Rafael Benitez, suggesting the manager is "selfish" and “didn’t contribute anything” to him during his spell on Tyneside.
The 33-year-old Spaniard, a cut-price signing from Atletico Madrid in 2016, praised the Magpies’ fans as “sensational”, but was heavily critical of his former boss.
The full-back played just 10 times in an injury-ridden couple of seasons at St James’ Park, and was eventually allowed to leave at the end of his contract earlier this summer.
Gamez told Malaga Hoy: “Yes, it got complicated at the beginning with an injury, then I broke my collarbone. I struggled to get back.
“At family level, the experience was very good. At sporting level, the fans and the team-mates were sensational, but the coach did not understand the situations that happened and also the deal was not the ideal one.
“He [Benitez] is a person that I do not like talking about because he didn’t contribute anything to me in these two years and I have nothing to say about him.”
Gamez made over 300 appearances for his boyhood club, Malaga, before securing a move to Atletico. Weeks prior to his move to the north east he won a Champions League runners-up medal with Diego Simeone’s side.
Brought in amongst a host of new faces following the Magpies’ relegation to the Championship, Gamez endured a torrid time in England, and is cutting in his appraisal of Benitez’s management style.
He said: “When someone is so selfish and wants to understand everything, they do not know how to read situations and understand that things are not always the same.
“You cannot distrust everyone. I showed him my professionalism. Time proved me right. I had an injury, I was not fooling anyone at all. The physios and the medical staff at Newcastle knew how to understand the situation.
“You cannot talk or argue with him because he always wants to be right.”
Since leaving Newcastle, Gamez has been without a club.