Rafa Benitez outlines why Newcastle will NOT be big spenders in January

The club, put up for sale by owner Mike Ashley last month, could be in new hands by the time the transfer window opens in January.

And there have been claims that Benitez will be handed a huge transfer kitty should Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners succeed in its bid to take over Newcastle.

However, Benitez, speaking ahead of tomorrow's home Premier League game against Wastford, doesn't believe a takeover would necesarily lead to a significanlty higher spend in January.

Asked if a takeover would help him in the next transfer window, United manager Benitez said: "It still doesn't change too much, so you have to look for good players and if they're available and in January that's difficult.

"The last thing you ask about is the price. If we have a change in ownership, we don't know if we will have money or not, because the Financial Fair Play rules. They don't allow you to spend too much money.

"We're just looking for good players – better players than we already have – or to fix positions we need to fix.

"We're not thinking about how much (money to spend). We have an idea if this player could be cheaper or could be more expensive, but we don't know, so we have to concentrate on what we can do and that's preparing the side."