Everton shipped James out to Qatari side Al-Rayyan earlier this week, removing wages which cost the club over £1m per month off the wage bill.
Benitez had his hands tied by financial fair play rules during the summer transfer window and struggled to make major additions to his squad.
Everton paid the price for failing to move James on, but with the Colombian now gone from Goodison Park, Benitez admits there is extra wiggle room for the January transfer window.
The Toffees boss revealed he has already spoken to supremo Moshiri, who wants to back him in the market.
“Yes I think so [that James going means players can come in January]”, Benitez told a press conference.
“I had that conversation yesterday with Mr Moshiri and we are lucky enough to have owners that they want to spend money.
“It is just to be sure that we can do it in the right way, but I think that they are very keen to spend the money and very keen to improve the team.
“Then we need to find the kind of player that will be adapted to the Premier League, but at the same time bring some quality that they will improve the level of the team.
“That is the difficult thing to find, this balance between spending money on very good players, but they need to be good players for us in England, in the Premier League and for Everton Football Club.”
Benitez is currently struggling with injuries to key players, with Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin both out of action, and will look to use the January window to strengthen his options.
