Rafael Benitez’s response when asked about Newcastle United targets duo

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Newcastle United have been linked with Stoke City’s Joselu and Chelsea’s Kenedy in the summer transfer window.

Newcastle United are playing in the Premier League this season after winning automatic promotion from the Championship at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

The Magpies kicked off their new campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at St. James’ Park on Sunday afternoon.

Rafael Benitez’s side have been quite busy in the summer transfer window, bringing in Florian Lejeune, Jacob Murphy and Javier Manquillo from Eibar, Norwich City and Atletico Madrid respectively on permanent contracts.

Christian Atsu’s loan deal from Chelsea has been made permanent, while Mikel Merino has been recruited on a season-long loan deal from Borussia Dortmund.

According to The Chronicle, Newcastle are interested in signing 27-year-old striker Joselu from Stoke City and 21-year-old Chelsea player Kenedy, who can operate as a winger or as a left-back.

When asked about deals regarding Joselu and Kenedy, Benitez told The Chronicle: “The situation is the same as we had before the game, so it doesn’t change too much. We knew what we needed and we know what we need.”

Newcastle have a decent squad, but the Magpies need to sign more players in order to challenge for a top-10 finish in the Premier League this season.

Benitez’s side, though, first need to make sure that they do not get dragged into a relegation dogfight and have to start picking up points.

Winning against Tottenham was always going to be hard for Newcastle, and they should now move on and look forward to the next few games.