Focus is better now that window is closed, says Newcastle boss

Benitez moved on a number of players, on permanent deals and loans, in the summer months.

And the club also signed 12 players in the window.

Benitez now feels he has a more captive audience now the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum have left St James’s Park.

Newcastle, fifth in the Championship after three successive wins, take on Derby County at the iPro Stadium tonight.

Asked if he was “relieved” that the transfer window had closed, United manager Benitez said: “Not relief.

“But I think it was most important for us to know this was our squad, so we could start working on everything – set-pieces, tactics.

“Whatever you want to do, you know you’re squad and everybody can listen and understand.

“Before, when you have three, four or five players who do not know if they will be here or they will leave, it was hard to organise tactics and set-pieces.

“When you say ‘I will prepare a corner’, and you have three players that are thinking ‘I will leave’, so they don’t put any interest in.

“Now we know where we are. We will work the same way, but I think it will be more productive.”

The signings of Daryl Murphy, Christian Atsu and Achraf Lazaar – and the £30million sale of Sissoko – completed the club’s transfer business.

Newcastle also ended the window with a healthy £30million profit.

Asked if he now had the squad he wanted, Benitez said: “The business has been great.

“Could be better? Yes. Could be worse? For sure. But I think we did a good job all together.

“We have the players we want.

“In terms of the positions and characteristic of the players, it could be better, because we could have two here instead of one and another one who maybe you can play in this role.

“I was really pleased, because these players know what we want.

“We were looking for a striker to compete against the strikers. It had to be a big lad who could be a target man and who would be good in the air. We have that (in Murphy).

“We wanted a winger with pace. We have that (in Atsu). We got what we were looking for.

“I’m happy with the players we have, for sure. We had other targets that we couldn’t get because they wanted to stay in La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga or the Premier League.”

Meanwhile, Benitez feels it is too early to look at the Championship table.

“It’s too early to draw any conclusions yet,” he said.

“For example, Derby aren’t doing well at the moment, but for me they will be up at the top.

“Huddersfield are doing well and Fulham are doing well, but it’s still too early.

“We have to wait until maybe another month. We have to play against the top sides, so it will be interesting to see at the end of September.”