RAFAEL BENITEZ is willing to include Chancel Mbemba in a deal for Andros Townsend, but the Newcastle United manager appears to be increasingly resigned to the likelihood of no new players arriving ahead of tomorrow’s transfer deadline.

Benitez has been pushing for a Townsend deal over the last seven days, but Crystal Palace remain reluctant to loan the winger, who only left Tyneside in a £13m transfer last summer.

The Northern Echo:

Ideally, Newcastle would like to sign Townsend on a season-long loan, with a view to a permanent transfer at the end of the season provided they win promotion to the Premier League. Palace want £13m now, something Mike Ashley is unwilling to agree to.

A potential compromise emerged over the weekend, with Sam Allardyce having raised the possibility of including Mbemba in a swap deal. The Palace boss is keen to add another defender to his ranks, and regards Mbemba as a viable addition.

Benitez is willing to sacrifice the centre-half, who has found himself demoted to the position of fourth-choice central defender this season behind Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Grant Hanley. However, with Mbemba having played in DR Congo’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final with Ghana in Gabon last night, it will not be easy to push through a deal ahead of tomorrow night’s deadline.

Townsend started Palace’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester City at the weekend, but is keen to return to Newcastle in an attempt to reignite his career.

When asked about a potential deal involving Townsend and Mbemba in the wake of Newcastle’s FA Cup fourth-round defeat to Oxford, Benitez said: “At the moment, I do not have news one way or the other.

“We have to do our job before (the deadline). We have our targets, but we don’t know if we can get them.”

Benitez has been pursuing a winger and a central midfielder throughout the transfer window, but with Ashley notoriously reluctant to be drawn into protracted discussions on deadline day, there is now a strong possibility of Newcastle failing to add anyone to their squad this month.

That would be a major disappointment to Benitez, who has also been pushing for the capture of Everton’s James McCarthy, but would reflect Ashley’s unease at having to fund further purchases when he recently agreed to a £33m loan to fund shortfalls in the club’s day-to-day running costs.

While Benitez is keen to add further quality to help ensure Newcastle are promoted this season, Ashley appears to have concluded that the current squad should be strong enough to make it out of the second tier.

That stance could change if the Magpies’ targets suddenly became available at a lower price in the next 36 hours, but as things stand, a breakthrough is not imminent.

One deal that should go through before tomorrow night is the departure of Cheick Tiote, with the midfielder not having featured in the squad at the Kassam Stadium.

Tiote’s proposed move to Sporting Gijon collapsed last week when the Spanish side opted to look for a more attacking midfielder, but talks with a couple of interested parties remain ongoing.

Turkish side Kayserispor have been conducting discussions in the last 48 hours, and there is also interest from Istanbul BB.

“We have some clubs interested in him (Tiote),” confirmed Benitez at the weekend. “We are waiting now for the final solution to the situation.”

Newcastle’s FA Cup exit means their Championship home game with Aston Villa will be staged on Monday, February 20, and their potentially season-defining game at Brighton will definitely take place on Tuesday, February 28.

The Magpies are free to ‘concentrate on the league’, and while there was inevitable disappointment at the manner of their cup exit, goalkeeper Matz Sels insists it is important to keep sight of the bigger picture.

“In the beginnining there was one objective - to win the league,” said Sels. “We have to focus on that now. We play twice at home (against QPR and Derby), so if we can have two good results, it’s good for the season.

“I can understand the supporters (being unhappy). They expect more from the team and there are no excuses. They had to travel really far to see this game, and we need the supporters. They are really important to us. You feel it when they’re behind the team, so we have to play better.”