Rafael Benitez comments on Newcastle United’s potential January spending

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Newcastle United could be under new ownership by January but Rafael Benitez is being cautious.

Rafael Benitez does not expect Newcastle United to be big spenders in the January transfer window regardless of whether the club’s proposed takeover goes through, according to The Shields Gazette.

Sky Sports understands that Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners have submitted an official bid to buy the Magpies from Mike Ashley, and are optimistic of getting a deal agreed before the New Year.

After years of operating under Ashley’s restrictions in the transfer market, Newcastle supporters are excited about the prospect of extra funds, but Benitez has insisted the takeover wouldn’t change his January plans.

“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,” Benitez is quoted by The Shields Gazette as saying.

“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.”

Although Benitez may be publically pleading caution, the Spaniard will be giddy inside about the potential investment as he was left frustrated by Ashley’s tight control of the pursestrings in the summer, as The Telegraph reports.

Getting deals done in January at good prices can be difficult so the new ownership might not have an immediate impact on Newcastle’s spending, but it would give them much more pulling power at the end of the season.