Rafael Benitez, the Newcastle United manager, insists he has no regrets about selling Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham, even though the Serbian is the Premier League’s top goalscorer.

Mitrovic has scored six goals in his last four games for club and country, while Newcastle have managed just four goals all season, with just three in the league, as they await their first win of the campaign.

The sale of Mitrovic for £22.5m in the summer infuriated some sections of the club’s support but Benitez is unrepentant, insisting he would not have scored as many goals if he had remained at Newcastle.

Benitez allowed Mitrovic to join Fulham on loan at the start of the year, as he was not playing him on Tyneside, privately claiming the 23-year-old was not suited to the team’s style of play and was not fit enough to play as a lone striker.

There were also question marks over his temperament following a series of costly red cards during his two-and-a-half years in the North East and Benitez decided to sign Salomon Rondon to replace the former Anderlecht forward in the summer.