RAFA BENITEZ now wants Newcastle United to push through a deal for Salomon Rondon after an agreement was reached for Aleksandar Mitrovic to finally complete a £22m move to Fulham.

The Magpies have already signed Japanese international Yoshinori Muto, subject to a work permit being granted, to effectively replace Mitrovic, but Benitez wants another.

And Rondon, who is available for £16.5m because of a clause in his contract, is the man he wants and believes he can get.

The West Brom striker has been forced to wait for Newcastle to raise the money to do a deal and Dwight Gayle could head the other way.

Gayle has been reluctant to drop down to the Championship again and has indicated he is happy on Tyneside.

But he has been overlooked for the last couple of friendlies and if Gayle was sold then the cash raised from him and Mitrovic’s departures will more than have covered the deals for Muto and Rondon.

Mitrovic finally had his wish to stay at Fulham, where he spent the second half of last season on loan, granted on Saturday when the two clubs finally agreed a deal.

And it seems as if Newcastle’s decision to play hardball over the size of fee for the 23-year-old has paid off.

It is understood Fulham are willing to pay £22m and that could rise to £27m depending on add-ons, even though they had been trying to land Mitrovic for £16m.

The Serbian World Cup forward scored 12 in 17 appearances for Fulham last season and that form persuaded Slavisa Jokanovic to spend big on him.

"I think he has an agreement with Fulham, and I wish him all the best," said Benitez. "Hopefully, he can score a lot of goals, but not against us.  “But it’s something we were expecting, and it’s now a case of looking to see if we can bring someone else to replace him.”

Newcastle, who drew 0-0 with Porto on Saturday night in Portugal, are looking to get Muto’s availability cleared as quickly as they can.

And once he has got his work permit granted, Benitez is convinced that the former Mainz forward will be able to adapt quickly to the Premier League.

“Muto's done, but it’s just waiting for the work permit," said Benitez. "He played in the World Cup in a good team. He has done well in the Bundesliga, so we're talking about a striker that's doing well in the last few years at international level.  “He has quality and can bring us energy and good movement plus the intensity you need. I don’t see any problem with him.”  It is not all positive news for Newcastle though. They have learned that Florian Lejeune, a signing last summer from Eibar, could miss the rest of the year because of injury.  No timescale has been put on his recovery just yet, although it has been confirmed he has suffered a cruciate ligament injury during pre-season.  He has missed the last couple of matches and has not made the trip to Portugal, where Newcastle play one more game against Sporting Braga on Wednesday.

Lejeune posted on social media: “During my last training session, I left the field due to an injury. After further medical examination, the doctor told me I have an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury.

“I’ll have surgery in the next few days. This injury will certainly keep me away from the pitch during a good part of the season.  “I’ll do everything I can to get back as quickly as possible on St James Park pitch. I’ll come back stronger to help my teammates and Newcastle United the best I can.”

Lejeune formed an important partnership at the back alongside Jamaal Lascelles last season. The arrival of Fabian Schar will help Newcastle cope without him, while Ciaran Clark is an alternative too.

Newcastle have already moved Chancel Mbemba on this summer and Benitez will have to consider whether to bring in another defender.

Clark played at the heart of the defence against Porto before Schar replaced him for the final half hour. Newcastle could have won the game but it was about the saves from Martin Dubravka and one late one from Karl Darlow that earned a draw.

Joselu was the man who started up front and he was replaced by Adam Armstrong ahead of handing Gayle some game time, the latter stayed on the bench for the duration of the game.  NEWCASTLE UNITED: Dubravka (Darlow, 72); Yedlin (Sterry, 62), Clark (Schar, 62), Lascelles, Dummett (Manquillo, 46); Diame (Hayden, 72), Shelvey (Ki, 62); Ritchie (Roberts, 72), Perez (Longstaff, 72), Murphy (Atsu, 72); Joselu (Armstrong, 72). Subs not used: Elliot, Yarney, Fernandez, Gayle.