Newcastle boss Steve McClaren has said he is looking to sign five new players this summer and is willing to spend between £10million and £15million on each one.

After owner Mike Ashley vowed to increase the club's spending on the first team, Newcastle are now operating on a bigger budget this season.

The north east club have been in talks with QPR striker Charlie Austin and PSV Eindhoven midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, as well as other players of the same calibre, like Anderlecht's Aleksandar Mitrovic, that are valued at around £15m.

When McClaren was asked if the target was to make more £10 m-plus signings he replied: "That would be nice. Yes, I think the targets we have talked about the positions to improve.... they don't all have to be top ones."

Much of Ashley's funds have been directed towards the international market, with France in particular, but more recent signings haven't yielded expected results.

With chief scout Graham Carr's understanding of Europe, his knowledge will benefit the club's new territory, although it does bring its problems.

McClaren added: "When you buy players for up to £5 m, there are loads of them and in that respect, Newcastle would be top of the tree.

"When it's £5-10 m, there are still a lot of them and we would be right up there competing with that group – and there are a lot of players in that group."

"When you go above that and look for a calibre of player to improve what we've got and to achieve our objectives.... The objectives have been set and we have to fulfil them, and that's what we are doing, so when you go £10 m-plus – and there is a lot of speculation about that level of player at the moment – they are Europa League and Champions League players at top clubs."