RAFAEL BENITEZ has admitted his frustration at Newcastle United’s ongoing struggle to offload some of their out-of-favour stars, and claimed clubs are making derisory offers in an attempt to back the Magpies into a corner.

Newcastle currently have more than 30 senior players in their first-team squad, and while Benitez does not have to sell in order to raise funds for the “three or four” signings he is still targeting, he concedes it will be impossible to add further players unless there are departures before the end of the transfer window.

Moussa Sissoko, who is unavailable for tonight’s home game with Reading after injuring his ankle in training, is the most likely player to leave before the end of the month, with Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Everton and Crystal Palace all having been strongly linked with his services.

Newcastle officials are understood to have had direct conversations with their counterparts at Goodison Park, but remain adamant they will not entertain bids that are lower than £35m, which is considerably higher than Everton’s valuation of the Frenchman.

Cheick Tiote, who is interesting clubs in the Middle East and Turkey, and Siem de Jong, who is a target for Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, have also been the subject of discussions in the last few days, but the fees that have been suggested to the St James’ Park hierarchy are regarded as wildly unrealistic.

Newcastle would also like to offload Yoan Gouffran, Henri Saivet and Emmanuel Riviere before the end of the month, with Benitez admitting the current size of the squad is unsustainable.

“We still have to sign players because we need to balance the squad,” said Benitez, who has watched his side lose their opening two matches of the season to Fulham and Huddersfield. “But we also have to sell players, or allow players to leave, because that is important in balancing the squad as well.

“If you have 31, 32 or 33 players, it is impossible. Even with 25 players, you cannot keep everyone happy, so with 31 it is impossible, even if you play two games a week. We do not need to sell, but we want to fix our squad and end up with a number of players that will be enough for the Championship, but that will not be much too big.

“I do not want to have players who do not have any chance of playing. At the moment, we have that situation. Why? Because the transfer window is open so there are players who know they will almost certainly not be here, but you are waiting for the right offer and the right offer is not coming.

“I might have said to a player, ‘You can go’, but where is the offer? It is not coming. Or someone comes in and says, ‘I will give you this figure’, but we say, ‘No – it has to be double’. That is what is happening now. We have had more inquiries this week, but still we have to wait.”

Sissoko’s ankle injury was sustained during a five-a-side game on Monday, and while Benitez continues to insist there is still a chance of the 25-year-old remaining beyond the end of the transfer window, it now looks all but certain that he will be leaving Tyneside this month.

“We have had some movements around him,” said Benitez. “We have things, we know his agent is doing things, but the deal has to be right for everyone.”

The Newcastle boss has also suggested that Tim Krul could leave this month, even though he is still working his way back to full fitness after last season’s knee ligament injury.

With Matz Sels having arrived from Belgian club Gent, the Magpies now have five senior goalkeepers on their books, and Krul and Rob Elliot, who have both entered the final year of their current deals, are the most vulnerable.

“He (Krul) has one year left on his contract, and we have five keepers at the moment,” said Benitez. “He is coming back after his injury, he is training hard and he's improving. We know that he's a very good keeper.

“If he has to compete, he's a very good goalkeeper so it won't be too hard. But we have Elliot in the same situation, and we have Sels now as well as (Karl) Darlow and (Freddie) Woodman. We cannot keep five keepers for the whole season, but it depends on if anyone is interested. If they are, then we will listen to them.”

Mo Diame will not be involved in tonight’s game after damaging his ankle during last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield, but Matt Ritchie will return to the starting line-up after being restricted to substitute duties against the Terriers.

Saturday’s defeat means Newcastle are pointless after their opening two games, but while Benitez accepts it has been a dreadful start, he insists it is still far too early to panic.

“It is not a case that everything we were doing was wrong just because we have lost two games,” he said. “We know a lot of things we have done are right – now we just have to make sure we fix the other things and then maybe we can improve.

“We didn’t play at the level we have to, and couldn’t win these games. People have been asking about the Championship, but it has not been anything different. It has just been two teams who were doing well.

“They were well organised and were trying to play football. It wasn’t the physicality or the pace of the game that was the problem – we made mistakes and couldn’t take our chances.”

Newcastle (probable, 4-2-3-1): Sels; Janmaat, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett; Hayden, Shelvey; Anita, Perez, Ritchie; Gayle.