Benitez happy at Newcastle

The Spaniard was left disappoined in the summer when Newcastle missed out on a number of his top targets and reports had claimed that he was ready to throw in the towel at St James' Park, with West Ham ready to swoop for the former Real Madrid boss to replace the under-pressure Slaven Bilic.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool, Beintez told the press that he is happy on Tyneside, though he refused to confirm whether he would be signing a new contract in the coming weeks.

"We have had some conversations internally," said Benitez. "We'll see what we do with them.

"But it's not a big issue, I don't have a problem with Mike (Ashley).

"The question is where we are, where we want to be and what we have to do to be there.

"It [the contract] is not an issue.

"It's not something that will change my approach, or that I will be more comfortable if I sign a 20-year-old contract.

"It doesn't change my approach for the next game.

"Are we working for the January transfer window? Yes, we are already working on that. Like the majority of the teams, we are monitoring players and that is the main thing.

"There will be a time, maybe next month, maybe next week, maybe in two months, when we will have another conversation and we will talk about that."

When asked if he was happy, he offered a much more definitive response.

"Yes," he exclaimed.

"I love my job. That is to coach, to improve players and to create a team that is competitive and can win games. Then I have to enjoy it, for sure.

"Two weeks ago, when I was lying down on the sofa, I was not very happy. Now I can be on the pitch, I am quite happy."