RAFAEL BENITEZ has accepted that Newcastle United’s hunt for new signings will go right to the wire – and is willing to wait until the window has closed before deciding whether it has been a success or failure.

The Magpies boss has left transfer negotiations to managing director Lee Charnley, who has been heavily in discussions with Feyenoord over the last ten days in a bid to land Danish striker Nicolai Jorgensen.

Newcastle are understood to have had a couple of offers knocked back by the Dutch club, and the first is known to have been around the £14m mark. Feyenoord, who have confirmed there has been contact, are unwilling to do business unless the offer reaches £20m.

Benitez would also like to bring in a goalkeeper, defender and a midfielder, and is regularly in contact with Charnley looking for updates. Having been told there is money available for squad investment, he wants results.

Benitez said: “We will not talk about names. What I said before is what I will say now. Until January 31, I have to wait and hopefully we can do what we have to do. I am talking to Lee and I was talking to Mike (Ashley) so we have the green light. We are working on that. I have to be positive.

“I have to be positive because still we have some days (left). I do not control the money. I have a list of players with different levels and different prices and that is what I am waiting for - news.”

Newcastle have shown an interest in Liverpool’s attacking pair Danny Ings and Daniel Sturridge as well as Leicester’s Islam Slimani; clearly strengthening the forward line is a priority.

But there is better value for money abroad, even though clubs on the continent still hike up the price when a Premier League club knocks on the door – as has been the case in Newcastle’s pursuit of Jorgensen. Would signing a player from the Eredivisie be a risk?

“Obviously, any player is a risk, whether from the Premier League or from abroad,” said Benitez. “They need to settle down. Even Kenedy, he knows the Premier League but has to look for a house, family, everyone needs some time. Some need more, some less.

“We try to identify players abroad, we know their background and try to have as much information as we can. Whether they are professional, clever enough to understand and adapt quickly? We have all this information.

“We gave a list of names at the beginning of the month. We have a list and we just keep working. Different positions. We need some help so that we will be fine in these positions.”

Benitez is not a big fan of the January transfer window and feels it is too long, as he heads into a trip to Chelsea in the FA Cup tomorrow feeling like he can’t include the players he would like in case it jeopardises a sale. He has support from his counterparts.

“This window should be fifteen days for me, maximum. It's enough because on January 1, we were ready, so in 15 days you can sign,” he said.

“Everybody is working during the season, you have your targets more or less and in 15 days if you want to sign players, you can do it, so it's not very difficult.

“I have been talking about that at UEFA. When we were in Nyon, the coaches, we had this conversation. Everyone was saying the same.

“Jurgen Klopp, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique … all the managers who normally go there … agree.”

The situation Benitez faces tomorrow - and in the final four days of the transfer window - is he would have considered fielding the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic ordinarily. Instead, though, amid offers from Brighton and the player being available, there is a reluctance to play him.

Benitez said: “What I said was very clear: Jack Colback and Jamie Sterry are on the market and the other players, it depends if we sign or not and in which positions.

“One that maybe now has more chance to leave is Rolando Aarons. I was talking with him and he was saying we were bringing in another player and maybe he could go. But we need to have the right team for him. We had one good option, but now we have to wait and then we are waiting for any other options.”

On Mitrovic, he added: “It was clear to him and his agent, if we can bring a striker in then we can consider anything apart from the Premier League. If we can’t bring in a striker then we have to consider carefully because we need players.

“I see the press that Brighton offered 7 or 8 but we are not considering selling a player to a Premier League team and that will not make sense.

“We have to manage the players we have. It doesn’t matter how much teams offer in the Premier League because we can’t consider offers if we don’t buy the players.”