Rafa Benitez Believes January Window Should Last Only 15 Days & He Has Backing From Fellow Managers

Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez says the Premier League's January transfer window should be reduced to just 15 days, and he reveals he has the backing from the league's top managers.

Benitez has faced an uphill battle this month in his attempts to persuade the club's owner, Mike Ashley, to invest in players amidst the uncertain climate at the club. 

The ongoing saga pertaining to the sale of the club has prolonged potential deals, with a £16m deal for Feyenoord forward Nicolai Jorgensen set to run until the last few days of the window. 

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Thus, the current January window is open for the entire month but the Magpies boss is of the belief that the club would have been able to act earlier if they were under a tighter time constraint. 

Benitez told the Daily Mail: "It should be 15 days for me, maximum. It's enough because on January 1 we were ready. Everybody is working [on transfers] during the season, you have your targets and in 15 days, if you want to sign players, you can do it, so it's not very difficult.

"I have been talking about this at UEFA. When we were in Nyon, the coaches, and we had this conversation. Everyone was saying the same - Jurgen Klopp, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola."

Despite the longstanding rivalry with Manchester United boss Mourinho, Benitez added: "So yes, we [myself and Mourinho] have the same idea… this time.

"I think we have to reduce the transfer window because it makes no sense. You cannot be sure that the players are right for each game because they know they might leave. As a coach you don't know if you can play a player in case he gets injured."

The Spaniard also put forward his suggestion that managers and executives from every Premier League club meet in a hotel during the transfer window to thrash out deals, he added: "They do it in Italy,' he said. 'Some days they go to Milan and they start talking all together."

With a trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to face Chelsea in the FA Cup, Benitez feels he cannot include certain players in fear of jeopardising a sale, however he insisted Aleksandar Mitrovic would not be sold to a Premier League rival.

“It was clear to him and his agent, if we can bring a striker in then we can consider anything apart from the Premier League. If we can’t bring in a striker then we have to consider carefully because we need players," said Benitez.  

"It does not make sense. It doesn't matter how much teams offer in the Premier League because we can't consider offers if we don't buy the players."