Newcastle target Chelsea star David Luiz and Liverpool ace Daniel Sturridge for January loans

Rafael Benitez accepts Newcastle’s hopes of avoiding relegation will be heavily influenced by the calibre of the players they can recruit next month, but his attempts to plan for the January window have been hampered by a lack of clarity over the Magpies’ off-field situation.

Mike Ashley is reluctant to commit to a specific budget until discussions with Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners group reach a more advanced stage, and while there is a chance PCP could underwrite some investment even if they have not completed their takeover by the end of next month, the situation remains uncertain.

Nevertheless, Benitez is determined to avoid the mistakes of the summer that saw Newcastle fail to land a number of leading targets at the start of the window, and has already begun to sound out potential options.

The Magpies manager is keen to strengthen both his defence and attack, and will prioritise players with Premier League experience who can hit the ground running as soon as they complete a switch to the North-East.

Luiz falls into that category, with his current knee problem expected to have healed by the turn of the year. The centre-half has only made one appearance since the end of October, although his absence from Chelsea’s first team is as much to do with the breakdown of his relationship with Antonio Conte as any injury concerns.

Conte criticised Luiz after a heated argument in the wake of a Champions League defeat to Roma, and with Andreas Christensen having impressed at the heart of the Chelsea defence in recent weeks, the Blues boss will allow the Brazilian international to leave next month in order to draw a line under the current situation.

Benitez forged a close relationship with Luiz during his time as Chelsea boss, and the pair spent around five minutes chatting on the edge of the Stamford Bridge pitch in the aftermath of Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat in West London earlier this month.

Benitez described Luiz as “one of the best defenders in the world” after working with him during the 2012-13 season, and would love to be reunited with the 30-year-old for the second half of the season.

Money is a major issue, with Luiz currently earning more than £100,000-a-week at Chelsea. The Magpies would either need Chelsea to fund a proportion of his wages in the second half of the season, or would require Luiz to take a voluntary wage cut, something that is not necessarily out of the question. Luiz recently lost his place in the Brazil squad, and accepts he will have to be playing regular first-team football between now and May if he is to feature in next summer’s World Cup finals in Russia.

Arsenal, Juventus and Real Madrid have all been credited with a potential interest, although Chelsea will be extremely reluctant to loan an established international to a club they perceive as one of their rivals in either the Premier League or Champions League. Selling Luiz would be a different matter, but it remains to be seen whether anyone will be willing to meet Chelsea’s £30m asking price for a player in his 30s.

Benitez is also determined to land a new striker next month, and while he has spent the first half of the season monitoring Liverpool reserve Danny Ings, he will also be pushing as hard as he can to sign Sturridge.

Like Luiz, Sturridge is set to leave his permanent employers next month in search of regular first-team football, with his World Cup place hanging in the balance.

The England international has made just five Premier League starts this season, and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp accepts it might suit everyone for the 28-year-old to leave Anfield in an attempt to kick-start his career.

Again, money will be an issue, with Sturridge currently earning around £125,000-a-week. Ashley will not be willing to pay that sum, although it remains to be seen what Staveley’s view is with regard to a budgetary ceiling. If Sturridge was to sign a loan deal to the end of the season, the total cost of the temporary transfer would not necessarily be too prohibitive if Newcastle were to budge their financial goalposts slightly.

A number of overseas clubs have signalled their interest in the striker, but Sturridge could well prefer to remain in the Premier League in order to keep himself at the forefront of Gareth Southgate’s thoughts.

He scored for England at the last European Championships, but finds himself battling with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy and Jermain Defoe for a place in the England squad for Russia.