Newcastle fans would have been brimming with confidence after securing their return to the Premier League with a convincing Championship title win.

They were always expected to bounce back up to the top-flight at the first time of asking, especially with a manager of Rafa Benitez’s pedigree in charge.

In addition to having the former Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid manager in the dugout, Newcastle also put together one of the most expensive second division squads in history after spending more than £50 million last summer.

The club was expected to follow up their ambition of 12 months ago with further investment on the back of their successful promotion bid.

To the delight of Newcastle fans, club owner Mike Ashley capped off last season by suggesting that would indeed be the case.

A statement in May claimed “every last penny the club generates” would go towards helping Benitez build a competitive Premier League team.

The 57-year-old was told he would have up to £100 million to spend on new players but - much to the distress of him and the fans – that promise has so far gone largely unkept.

The Tyneside club have only brought in defender Florian Lejeune from Eibar and Chelsea winger Christian Atsu for a combined fee of approximately £15 million.

Benitez – who had hoped to have secured several more of his targets by this stage of the transfer window – believes the root of the Magpies’ struggles lies beyond their control.

"The top sides have a lot of money and the others are spending too," he said, per the BBC.

"It's not easy for a lot of teams because the market is a little bit crazy. We have to try to do our best.

"We know where we are - that is not ideal because everybody wants to see a lot of players signing already - but we have to keep working and see what we can do."

Despite the tension between Benitez and his superiors, he remains optimistic Newcastle will welcome more fresh faces in time for the opening day of the campaign.

"We can do nothing other than just keep working to find the players that we want, and hopefully we can do it.”

Newcastle had better hope the Spaniard gets his wish with Tottenham set to visit St James’ Park in just over four weeks’ time.