RAFAEL BENITEZ hopes Lucas Perez will put off making a decision over his future until later in the window as the Newcastle United boss waits for outgoing deals to be struck.

The Magpies are trying hard to reduce the size of the squad, with a number of players on decent contracts still at St James’ Park even though Benitez would be happy for them to leave.

The likes of Massadio Haidara, Emmanuel Riviere and Henri Saivet are earning a substantial wage despite the prospect of a lack of football next season, so ideally it would suit everyone to move on.

There are others available too if the right offers come in, including Grant Hanley, Tim Krul, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Karl Darlow, although the latter two have figured recently in pre-season.

A failure to move such players on has hindered Benitez’s own attempts to strengthen the Newcastle squad, and he also accepts his squad is on the heavy side.

When asked about transfers after Wednesday’s win over Wolfsburg, Benitez told the media in Germany: “We are where we are. For us it has been a difficult transfer window.

“Hopefully we can improve the team a little bit but we have to move players out and also look to bring players in. But we are trying to find the balance.”

Benitez is frustrated with a lack of progress ahead of Newcastle’s final friendly with Verona on Sunday at St James’ Park. He would have liked more new signings over the line, knowing Tottenham are due to visit Tyneside to start the Premier League campaign a week on Sunday.

Arsenal forward Perez is one of his preferred attacking options to come in and it is well known Newcastle have been in touch with the Emirates to assess the feasibility of such a deal.

As things stand the Gunners want £13.4m to offload him on a permanent basis and such a fee has put off a number of clubs, including his former team Deportivo La Coruna.

If Newcastle can move more players on then they would be in a stronger position to consider a permanent deal, while at the moment they would prefer a loan switch that Arsenal do not want to sanction.

That has opened the door for Fenerbahce to move in and they are currently the front-runners for the signature, even if Newcastle remain an option. Benitez admitted as much during the last 24 hours.

Perez’s agent Rodrigo Fernandez Lovelle said: “Two clubs in Spain have already contacted Perez for a transfer, Sevilla also want to sign him, and a German team and Fenerbahce are negotiating to sign the player.

“But Perez is a footballer who has a three-year contract with Arsenal and his future depends entirely on the decision of the club. If the club decide to close the transfer for him they must convince Arsenal. Which clubs can reach an agreement with Arsenal can sign him. There is no problem for us.”

Benitez has learned he will be without American full-back DeAndre Yedlin for the opening game with Tottenham.

Yedlin suffered a hamstring problem against Mainz and there are fears he will be missing for the first month of the campaign. He was a regular starter last season, having featured in 32 games during the title winning Championship year.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have been linked with a variety of forwards over the summer and another new name emerged yesterday.

Portuguese club Benfica - where Andreas Samaris is also on Benitez’s radar - have indicated to media in Lisbon that Andre Carillo is being considered.

Carillo is also wanted by Crystal Palace, Stoke and Watford, according to the report in Portugal, with Newcastle keen on the Peruvian winger too.