Rafa Benitez responds to questions on whether he will walk out at Newcastle

Benitez is frustrated by the club’s failure to strengthen his squad ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline.

United’s manager – who has had to sell to buy this summer – still wants to sign up to four more players ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

Benitez is now in the final year of his contract at the club.

And some supporters have voiced fears that he could walk away from Newcastle, even though he would have to buy himself out of his contract to do so.

Asked if he had considered walking away, Benitez said: “If I decided to come here, it’s because I could see the potential. You can see you have 50,000 fans. They are very clever. They know what is going on.

“They have to support the team, because that is the only way to guarantee the team stays up. I will fight until the end. Can I guarantee anything that will happen tomorrow? In my head, it’s to stay and fight and be sure that we do well, and, if everything is right, to talk about the future.

“But we have been talking about the future for the last month and we are not going in the same direction.

“Hopefully, we will continue to work hard together to be sure that the team stays in the Premier League.”

Benitez revealed last month that contract talks with the club’s hierarchy had been put on hold until after the transfer window.

Asked if those discussions would still take place, he said: “I can talk, but it’s what I said before ... (you have) to walk the walk and talk the talk.

“It’s not that we need to talk too much. We need to do things. We didn’t do it.

“We have to be sure that if we want to improve something ... we need to be sure that it will be done, not words and interviews or whatever. It has to be done.”

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Martin Dubravka – who missed Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Augsburg with a minor problem – is expected to be fit for the club’s season-opener against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.