Hands off our stars, says Pardew

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew says he only expects one of his best players to leave in January if a club pays ‘way over the odds’.

The Magpies, who sit third on the Premier League table, were unbeaten this season until their 3-1 loss against Manchester City on Saturday.

Due to Newcastle’s impressive start to the campaign, players such as Cheick Tiote and captain Fabricio Coloccini have been linked with exits, but the former Southampton boss expects to hold on to his stars.

“It is going to cost a hell of a lot of money, a hell of a lot of money because we’re in that position now,” Pardew told The Sunday Mirror.

“I think any of our players that get linked to other clubs, those clubs are going to need to know they’ll need to pay a shed load of money to get anyone out of this football club.”

“I don’t envisage anyone going out in this window, but if a club, one of the top clubs, comes in and wants to pay way, way over the odds we’ll have to look at it.”

Newcastle have sold key players in each of the last two transfer windows, with Andy Carroll joining Liverpool in a 30-million-pound deal in January and Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique all leaving in the summer.