Rafael Benitez maintains that new contracts for himself and his players come before possible January arrivals in his thinking but it appears that any funds that are made available in the new year will not be spent on bringing Michael Owen back to Anfield.
Owen's Newcastle contract expires in the summer, when he will be available on a free transfer, and one area where Benitez clearly needs extra options is attack, an issue that has been brought into sharp focus by Fernando Torres' injury problems.
Benitez now prefers to use Dirk Kuyt on the right flank, while Robbie Keane has struggled for goals and looked uncomfortable at the top of a 4-2-3-1 since arriving for £20.3 million from Tottenham in the summer and French youngster David Ngog is not ready to start in the Premier League on a regular basis.
The Spaniard attempted to sign Owen, who has fallen out of favour with England coach Fabio Capello, when he returned from Real Madrid in the summer of 2005 but was only able to offer around half of the £16 million Newcastle were prepared to pay.
Given his contractual situation, Owen, 28, would be available at a fraction of that fee - possibly even £2 million - but he will have to look elsewhere to kick-start his career as Benitez has no interest in taking him to Liverpool in the new year.
New strikers remain a strong possibility but Andrea Dossena remains determined to prove that Benitez does not need another to bring in another left-back.
That has been an area that Benitez has always struggled to fill and he had hoped that finally dedicating significant money would solve the problem when he paid Udinese £7 million for the Italian Dossena, 27, in the summer.
Dossena, however, has failed to convince and had lost his place to Fabio Aurelio before the Brazilian suffered a hamstring problem in last week's 1-0 Champions League victory over Marseille. But Dossena is adamant he can adapt to the English game and prove a success at Liverpool.
He said: 'I am very happy at Liverpool. At the start of the season I found it very difficult because never before had I played so many games in such a short space of time. But now I talk regularly with the boss and with the physios and I am doing some things differently to try and improve my level.
'There are different demands on me here than I have ever had anywhere else. At Udinese, my place in the team was secure but at Liverpool there is so much quality in the squad that this cannot be the case. But I remain happy here and I will fight for my place.'
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