RAFAEL BENITEZ has told Mike Ashley to protect his asset by ensuring there is money to spend in January – regardless of what happens to the ongoing takeover talks with Amanda Staveley.

The Dubai-based financier and Ashley were spotted emerging from a meeting inside a London curry house on Thursday night having discussed the prospect of a deal face-to-face.

Up to that point Ashley’s lawyers have been in control of the potential sale but the get-together was seen as a further example of a willingness and desire on both sides to strike a deal.

Ashley is demanding a substantial increase in Staveley’s last offer, worth considerably less than the asking price of closer to £400m. While the Newcastle owner is not speaking publicly, it is widely understood he could drop his valuation and meet somewhere in the middle.

But while Staveley and the PCP Capital Partners investment group she is leading considers its next move, Benitez knows that even if there is an agreement the actual takeover may not officially go through until February.

That would make it harder for Benitez and his hopes of investing in the squad. He is adamant he needs reinforcements to strengthen Newcastle’s chances of staying in the Premier League – which would significantly heighten the club's value.

Benitez said: “At any football club in the world, the value depends on the first team. What you are doing on the pitch. You can put everything around and that’s fine, but if you are in the Premier League and doing well it is easier.

“If you are in the Premier League and things are not going well it is more difficult and if you are in the Championship it has less value. That is so simple. For any club in the world, it depends on the performance of the first team. And then you have to be sure that the first team is doing well.”

Asked if Ashley needs to spend in January to protect that value? Benitez replied: “It is very simple. You have to be sure that your team is strong enough to stay in the Premier League.”

He added: “That has been my message from the beginning of the season. We have a very good group of players who are working very hard, but always you need players and you have to adjust things, because normally you can see if something is wrong then it is now that you can fix things.”

Benitez has already drawn up transfer targets with Besiktas’ Cesan Tosun one of the main targets. He has also been linked with a move for Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw.

The Spaniard feels that after delivering promotion he was told there was more money to spend than he had in the summer, so expects more when the window opens on January 1 for a month.

He said: “Hopefully we can do what we have to do and I will be positive after January.”

Benitez had earlier said: “Not yet (spoken about money). I think we will stay up, that’s my conviction. At the same time a good hand will help to bring someone in, and that will help too. My main thing is to focus on the games.

“We have to improve as a team to compete with the top sides, like we saw in the last games. We have to maximise what we have and we have fantastic fans behind the team.

“We had a meeting about August in May, and I am expecting that money we weren’t spending could be available. Hopefully we can sit down and see exactly where we are.”

Newcastle go into this evening’s game with Leicester at St James’ Park on the back of collecting just one point from the last six matches. He will be able to recall captain Jamaal Lascelles, while Christian Atsu is also available after injury.

Benitez said: "Two or three players have been injured and we have not been missing 'someone', we have been missing two or three because they had been doing well.

"The competition between players had been quite good, and to bring them back is good. But at the same time, when you lose players then others can show you the level that they can reach or the potential they have.

"It is normal, but that is the key when you talk about the squad. It is not just 15 or 16 players, across the course of a season you need more players - and you need more players of the same level.

"When you lose two or three players, you don't want the level to drop so that you lose something, the level drops and then you start losing games."

Benitez is weighing up what changes to make to face the Foxes, and one of those is whether to include Jonjo Shelvey at the heart of the midfield. He has not started either of the games since his poor performance against Watford.

The Newcastle boss said: "He is a good player, sometimes he can be there, sometimes he cannot be there. But it is exactly the same with Isaac Hayden or with Mikel Merino or with Jamaal Lascelles, or with anyone.

"For me, some players could be different in terms of the quality that they have, but still all of them they will be important at different parts of the season. Maybe some of them will be more important during the whole season, maybe some of them just part of the season."