A FRUSTRATED Rafael Benitez is desperately waiting for positive news on the transfer front, amid growing fears Newcastle United will be heading into the new season without the changes he feels are necessary to improve.

Benitez is at a stand-off with Mike Ashley over extending his contract on Tyneside, with claims the club’s owner is waiting for him to sign a new contract before handing over more transfer cash.

But the Spanish manager, whose existing deal runs out next summer, is refusing to sign the fresh terms until he can see proof Ashley shares his ambitions for Newcastle.

Benitez not only wants a sizeable pot of money to spend on the squad so he can try to guide them beyond last season’s tenth place finish, he also wants investment in the club’s academy and in other ways behind the scenes to make Newcastle stronger.

The situation is certainly not ideal for a manager who has targets in mind and can’t get them over the line, which has led to him speaking out while with his team on a week-long training break in Ireland.

Many of Benitez’s leading targets are out of reach because of the finances involved and he is waiting for player sales to go through so that things can step up pursuits of those he feels are achievable.

There are just three weeks remaining of the summer transfer window, which is the Thursday before Newcastle open the Premier League season with a home date against Tottenham on Saturday, August 11.

By that time Aleksandar Mitrovic – who is believed to be due back from holiday next week - should have completed a move to Fulham, worth around the £20m mark.

Benitez knows that in the current circumstances he could do with that going through now, so he can attempt to bring in West Brom’s Salomon Rondon as a replacement.

Newcastle have tried with a loan offer – described as “cheeky” by sources close to the Hawthorns – for Rondon to try to get things moving sooner, but West Brom are only interested in letting him go for the £16.5m release clause stipulated in his contract.

The Tyneside outfit have tried to be as creative as they can by targeting loan deals and asking numerous clubs at home and abroad for some of their players.

Nothing has materialised so far, although Roma are thought to be interested in letting £18m forward Gregoire Defrel head to the North-East for the season.

Defrel has not had much of a chance at Roma since joining and has spent his career playing and scoring a decent number of goals at other clubs in Italy; he is not believed to be a top target, however.

Benitez is also waiting for Chancel Mbemba’s £6m switch to Porto to go-ahead, having seen that held up in recent days when it looked like everything had been agreed. Matz Sels, Henri Saivet, Jack Colback and Achraf Lazaar are all available too.

There remains strong interest in Matt Ritchie. Ideally, though, Benitez wouldn’t even be selling him because he has the right mindset and character for the Newcastle squad.

But he also knows £15m raised by his sale could help to bring in more pace down the flanks, with Crystal Palace’s £18m-rated Andros Townsend the leading target – even if the Eagles’ do not want to sell.

Newcastle’s summer business has seen them enter a profit. Only Martin Dubravka has cost them a permanent transfer fee, with Kenedy arriving on loan and Ki Sung-yueng joining as a free agent from Swansea.

Mikel Merino’s sale to Real Sociedad brought in £9m but that is clearly not enough to convince Ashley to splash more cash to allow Benitez the chance to make his squad stronger for next season.

There remains strong interest in defender Jamaal Lascelles, rated in the £50m bracket at St James’ Park, but Benitez does not have the appetite to sell his skipper and key centre-back.