Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul has admitted that he was unhappy with how Magpies boss Rafael Benitez handled his exit last summer.
Krul joined Newcastle in 2015, and the stopper represented the club on 185 occasions in all competitions before leaving to join Brighton & Hove Albion ahead of the 2017-18 season.
It is understood that Benitez told Krul to train with the Newcastle Under-23s last summer whilst he was attempting to find a new club.
The 29-year-old ultimately joined Brighton, initially on loan before completing a permanent move to the newly-promoted club in September 2017.
The Dutchman has revealed that he asked Benitez for a chance to prove himself following a loan spell at AZ, but has claimed that the Newcastle boss was simply not interested.
Krul told The Times:
“I said to the gaffer ‘give me a chance, I’ll show you I’m back’.
“Rafa had different ideas. He said ‘it doesn’t matter what you do’. That’s the business. We know we’re puppets to a certain extent.
“It wasn’t right. I think [Benitez] knows that as well… I just wanted to be treated with respect.”
Newcastle have still not solved their problems between the sticks, although the club are currently being strongly linked with Paris Saint-Germain stopper Kevin Trapp.