Rafael Benitez confident of second Newcastle transfer but rules out selling Mitrovic to Brighton

Rafael Benitez is hopeful that he will add at least one more new face to his Newcastle United squad before the end of the January transfer window, but appears to have scuppered Brighton & Hove Albion's hopes of completing a deal for striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

After no shortage of uncertainty caused by an ongoing takeover saga involving Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners, the Magpies finally completed their first signing of the month earlier this week as versatile Brazilian winger Kenedy joined on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the season.

Attention now appears to be focused on securing a new striker, with divisive owner Mike Ashley seeming willing to break a transfer record that has stood since Michael Owen's £17m ($24.1m) move from Real Madrid in 2005 in order to bolster a relatively feeble attack that has scored only 22 goals in 24 matches so far this term.

Newcastle have seen bids worth £14m and £15m rejected for Denmark international Nicolai Jorgensen, with Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord believed to be holding out for approximately £20m.

"I will tell you on January 31," Benitez was quoted as saying at a press conference held before Sunday's (28 January) FA Cup fourth-round clash with Chelsea when asked if a club-record offer was not forthcoming, per the Shields Gazette.

"We have to make sure on the January 31 we will have the players we want. That's the main thing. I don't do the business. I only do the football issues. Lee Charnley does. We gave a list of players to January 1, and the plan A, B and C were ready. I have confidence that before the 31st we will bring someone else."

Whether or not Newcastle succeed in their quest for a new striker is likely to have a major impact on the future of Mitrovic, who has played just 89 minutes of Premier League football so far this season.

It was reported on Wednesday that Brighton had seen an £8m offer for the Serbian rebuffed and Benitez is adamant that they will only considering selling to an overseas club and not a direct rival.

"I was very clear with him and very clear with his agent," he said, per Sky Sports. "If we bring in a striker, we can consider anything apart from the Premier League. If we don't bring in a striker, we have to analyse carefully because we need players.

"I have seen in the press that Brighton were offering seven or eight million or something like that. We are not thinking about selling any players, anyone from our squad to a Premier League team that will be competitors because it makes no sense."

He added: "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."