With not the largest of budgets to work with, Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez will once again have to wheel and deal during this transfer window.

And the Spaniard has since looked at bringing in Mario Balotelli if recent reports are to be believed with the striker, whose contract is up in the summer, falling out of favour at Nice due to a fractious relationship with manager Patrick Vieira.

The Breakdown

According to the Daily Mirror, though, Balotelli is set to snub Newcastle and stay in France by joining Marseille in a move that Benitez  would view as a huge blow.

The Newcastle manager, however, should consider it as a bullet dodged. For all of the ability he has and how good his goal-scoring record has been in Ligue 1 over the last couple of seasons, signing £18m-rated (Transfermarkt) Balotelli is too much of a risk for various reasons.

The 28-year-old has become infamous for his antics off the pitch and overall behaviour at previous clubs Manchester City and Inter Milan, while he is also likely to command high wages.

On top of that, up front, the Magpies look to be in decent shape with Salomon Rondon now starting to find the back of the net.

Rather, Benitez would be wise to put what little money he has been given into adding a winger or attacking midfield type player to his squad, an area of the team that could do with some reinforcements.