RAFAEL BENITEZ continues to work on the assumption that Newcastle United will not be taken over ahead of the transfer window, and is due to meet Lee Charnley this week to finalise his plans for January.

Former Manchester City director Garry Cook became the latest figure to be linked with a possible buy-out of the Magpies yesterday, and the ex-Nike executive is understood to be working with a group of American investors to try to put together a viable consortium.

Like the competing group being overseen by former Chelsea and Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon, however, Cook’s investment team are yet to table an acceptable bid, and have not entered into a period of exclusive negotiations.

Given the need for a formal process of due diligence, it is now extremely unlikely that either group would be able to complete a takeover before the turn of the year, even if they were able to meet Ashley’s £300m asking price.

As a result, Benitez will once again have to negotiate with Charnley and Ashley as he looks to secure the funds he needs to strengthen his squad when the transfer window reopens on January 1.

The Newcastle manager has previously claimed that transfer discussions are well underway, but there was a marked change of tack in the wake of Saturday’s 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town, when he was asked about a reported interest in Japanese midfielder Ritsu Doan, who is currently playing with Dutch side FC Groningen.

“Normally, we don’t talk about players but, in this case, I am telling you that we are not talking about anyone at the moment,” said Benitez, who is keen to sign an attacking midfielder and a left-back as a minimum next month.

“We have to have a meeting maybe next week, and then we will see our targets then maybe. People have been asking me about him (Doan), but we don’t know (our targets) yet.”

That hardly sounds positive, and if takeover talks continue to stall, there is an obvious risk of Ashley refusing to sanction significant spending in yet another transfer window.

The framework of a deal for Atlanta United midfielder Manuel Almiron has been agreed, but at this stage, there is no sign of Newcastle agreeing to meet the asking price for the Paraguay international.

At least things are looking brighter on the pitch, with Saturday’s win at the John Smith’s Stadium having lifted Newcastle to 14th position in the table.

“The team reacted to the defeat against Wolves in a very good way,” said Benitez,