Friday 26 January 2018 15:22, UK
Rafael Benitez says Newcastle will not sell any player to a Premier League rival, and insists "we need players".
Newcastle this week rejected an £8m bid from Brighton for Aleksandar Mitrovic, according to Sky sources, and Benitez revealed himself and the board see no logic in selling the striker to a relegation rival.
The side sit 15th in the table, one point and one place above Brighton, and Benitez says any departure would depend on the Magpies having a replacement lined up.
"If we bring in a striker, we can consider anything apart from the Premier League, and if we don't bring in a striker we have to analyse carefully because we need players," he said.
"I have seen in the press that Brighton was offering £7m or £8m, or something like that.
"We are not thinking about selling any player, not any one of our squad, to a Premier League team that will be competitors because it has no sense."
The former Real Madrid and Liverpool boss says gaining a large amount of money from the sale of a key player will be of little use to the club if they do not use the money to invest in their squad.
"We had to do what we had to do in August. Now, we have to manage the players that we have and then if we go for a player in the Premier League normally they will say no," he said.
"If they come for players, normally it does not matter for me how much the offer.
"If they offer £50m I will think about that, but it doesn't matter because we cannot spend the money if we don't sign another player."
Benitez says he is in regular contact with managing director Lee Charnley and owner Mike Ashley over bringing a new forward to St James' Park.
"We are talking, I have meetings with Lee Charnley every day, and I was talking with Mike Ashley," he said.
"They give us the green light to go forward, and we are waiting for this.
"In the transfer window you have to be positive and at the end of the window you will see if you have been positive or negative.
"We have to be sure by the 31st that we have the players that we want, that's the main thing for me."
