Rafa Benitez planning transfer meetings as Newcastle

Benitez's side are second in the Championship ahead of Monday night's home game against Aston Villa.

The club "disappointed" Benitez by failing to make a signing in last month's transfer window.

However, United are now scouting players ahead of the summer window.

"The scouts are analysing big things for the future, watching games and filing reports," said Benitez, Newcastle's manager.

"There will be future meetings to analyse the market. The difficult thing here is you don’t know if we will be in the Premier League or the Championship, but we are still looking for good players. Then we will have some time to see what our targets are."

Benitez has not spoken to United owner Mike Ashley since last summer, when he committed himself to the club in the wake of relegation.

Instead, he deals with managing director Lee Charnley.

"My relationship is always with Lee," said Benitez. "He’s the one I talk to.

"We will have some meetings in the future to talk about what we want to do. We know our squad and that we have to maybe find some balance in some positions.

"We will start monitoring players just so we know we are ready."