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Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez has admitted that he could miss out on certain transfer targets in the last three weeks of the window.

Benitez offered a refreshingly honest response to questions about recruitment after United’s final training session at Carton House.

The Toon boss was eager to have all of his business done by this stage of the summer but has only landed three players so far.

Alassane Pléa was a player Benitez wanted to sign but the Magpies were outbid by Borussia Mönchengladbach .

Benitez said: “He was one of the names on the list.”

The club remain in talks with West Brom to buy Salomón Rondón who is available for £16.5million .

Benitez knows probably has to sell to buy, he said: “We have some enquiries about some of our players and Lee Charnley is working on that.

“We will see if we have any news in the next few days.

“Obviously, we need to move players if we want to have money to spend on players.

“It depends on the movements.

“We will see how quick the others can go.

“Always in the window, you have to do things quickly; if not, you’re losing your targets, and then you go, later on, to players that maybe are not as good as you are expecting in different positions.”

And reflecting on the lack of speed on certain deals, he said: “We will try to sign the right players with the characteristics that we will need for the games. If you go early, you can sign the first or second choice.

“If not, you go deeper and deeper (down the list of targets). The fans need to understand these players here are giving everything, so we have to support them.

“We cannot say ‘oh, he is not good enough’ because, sometimes you cannot sign the players you want but the players that are good for you and the squad.

“At least we are trying to bring professionals that care.”