ALAN SHEARER thinks Rafa Benitez could walk at the end of the season if Mike Ashley still owns Newcastle United and he has not given him the backing he wants on the transfer front.

Benitez - whose preparations for Saturday's opener with Tottenham have been boosted by news that the players have settled a dispute over bonuses with the club - is still banking on Ashley signing some more business off for him before the 5pm transfer deadline on Thursday when the window closes.

Swansea defender Federico Fernandez has emerged on to the Newcastle radar in recent days as Newcastle look for an extra defensive option following the news that Florian Lejeune is sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury.

The Swans want £10m for the centre-back and that is above the sort of figure that Newcastle are looking to pay, particularly for a player of his 29 years.

Benitez would still like to land Liverpool striker Danny Ings, even though he has already brought in Salomon Rondon and Yoshinori Muto to provide different attacking options. Ings is a different kind of striker to those but there is a reluctance to pay the £20m asking price.

Newcastle had looked at doing a loan for the former Burnley man but in the end the only way Dwight Gayle and Rondon could swap clubs was through the loan system – using up the St James’ Park club’s two Premier League loan quota because they already have Chelsea’s Kenedy in their ranks.

Newcastle have been interested in a couple of younger options. As well as trying to strike a loan deal for Barcelona's 22-year-old Brazilian defender Marlon Santos, there have been claims in France that personal terms have been agreed with Sikou Niakate, a 19-year-old, but that is being played down on Tyneside.

And further stories have suggested that Benitez is also keen on another 19-year-old, Lyon’s striker Myziane Maolida.

Benitez’s frustrations have been well documented on the transfer front because the hope was that he would have the majority of his summer business done long before now.

Instead he has been left wondering whether there will be any more money made available to him during a close-season when he has not penned a new contract offered to him by Ashley.

Benitez has entered the final 12 months of his deal and Ashley has been reluctant to let him have more money to spend at a time when he is known to be open to offers to sell up.

The nearest he had come was when he was knocking back offers from Amanda Staveley’s group of investors before he decided to draw a line under the whole affair in January.

Former Newcastle striker Shearer, speaking at a Premier League launch event to TalkSport, knows there are big problems to be addressed if Benitez is to stay for the long term. He is, though, convinced Benitez will at least guide the club this season.

“Rafa is obviously angry because he was promised he would be given all the funds that were generated to spend on the team and that hasn’t happened," said Shearer.

“I understand Rafa’s frustration totally and the fans’ frustration too. They work all week in Newcastle to spend their money and have a good time at the weekend.

"A good time is going to St James’ Park and seeing their team and being loyal and being supportive and having hope but they haven’t had that.

“They have a top manager and that will give me hope that they can avoid relegation this year. To finish tenth last year was incredible."

He added: “I do think Rafa will stick around because I think he lives in hope that someone will buy the football club. He realises the potential there. There are 52,000 fans at the stadium who care for that club. If nothing changes at the end of the season then I’m sure he will go.”