RAFAEL BENITEZ has his sights on the Championship title, and then he focus on outlining to Mike Ashley that Newcastle United need to be serious competitors in the transfer market ahead of a Premier League return.

Benitez is looking for the Magpies’ owner Ashley to plough significant cash into the squad over the summer and will seek assurances from the top when they meet up next week.

The Newcastle boss is keen to stress the get together will not be a showdown, merely a meeting of minds to plot a way forward to ensure they can attack the top-flight rather than hold relegation worries.

Given Ashley’s previous reluctance on the transfer front and his strict policies in terms of transfers, it is understandable supporters fear Benitez might not hear what he wants and that could place his position in doubt.

Ahead of the meeting, and Newcastle’s final game of the season against Barnsley at St James’ Park, the former Liverpool boss is excited about the prospect of making Newcastle a force to be reckoned with.

Benitez said: “Yes I’m looking forward to it because you have been working so hard for a while, you know that it could be the beginning of something important and you are expecting that something important will happen.

“I decided to stay (last summer) because of the stature of the club and the potential of the club was in my head. So hopefully everything can be fine in the future.”

Newcastle have started to examine transfer targets. The majority of the decision making will be done after Ashley and Benitez have had discussions about the future.

“You have to do this even if you are not promoted,” said Benitez. “You still have to look for the best players possible in the market. The difference now is you do not know who your target is because it depends on the money. It is important to pass on names and we are working on that. And depending on what is going on, make the decision.”

Asked whether Benitez’s perception of Ashley’s plans will purely depend on what money will be spent, he replied: “Not really but it helps a lot. Even if you are working very, very hard and doing a lot of right things, if someone close to you has more money and tries to sign the player and he signs better players than you, then they have an advantage.

“Now the money is important, the project is really important, do things in the right way is important. But you have to compete and if you want to compete you need some money.

“At a football club you have football operations and business operations. Football operations means medical department, scouting department, academy – all these things have to be managed in the right way, because then you have more chances to maximise your resources.

“If you do not have too much money you have to do a lot of things right. If you have money maybe you can make mistakes but the money can cover everything. In this case you have to do everything right and maximise your resources and be sure you bring in the best players possible for us.”

Despite spending the last season in the Championship, he feels Newcastle are a real pull if the right terms and deals can be struck. Without predicting the calibre of player he could go for, though, he did suggest nothing should be ruled out.

He said: "It depends on a lot of things, but sometimes you can find a player that you don't expect that you can sign because the circumstances are right.

"When I went to Napoli, they had a lot of Italian players and then we brought in Higuain, Reina, so sometimes you can have access to players if the conditions are right.

"Premier League experience would be the ideal situation to bring in. But at the same time you have to analyse the prices. Those are sometimes impossible. You have to go and look for a little bit of balance.

"You always try to find balance with experience in the Premier League and players that are really good in the Championship and can go up and be hungry.

"Sometimes players from abroad are a little bit cheaper, but they can be better players. The main thing will be to make sure, if you bring in players from abroad, that they are mentally strong enough and with the personality to go with the intensity of the Premier League.”

Newcastle can win the league tomorrow if they better Brighton’s result at Aston Villa. It could mark the end of some of the players’ stay on Tyneside.

He said: "I am trying to stop you making speculation about players because if we have a meeting and we talk about this or that, then it has an influence on players. I told them the other day 'forget about your future, short term, because we have to play this game, and then next week I will meet the owner and then we will talk about what's going on and then you will know after the meeting because before the meeting I can say nothing.”

Jamaal Lascelles is missing after double hernia surgery in midweek, while £12m winger Matt Ritchie has also undergone a groin operation to ensure he is fit for the start of the new season. Leading scorer Dwight Gayle is fit but may not be risked.