Pardew fears loss of star players

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew fears that he may be forced to sell some of his best players in the summer transfer window.

The Toon boss admitted he will find it hard to keep hold of his players if some of the big European sides come in for them because Newcastle simply cannot compete in financial terms.

“It’s impossible to restrict Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City from coming in for one of our players,” Pardew said.

“We have players who are not on the salaries these top clubs can offer.”

The possibility of Champions League football next season will help Newcastle hang on to their stars but Pardew said until that possibility becomes a reality keeping the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba on Tyneside will prove difficult.

However, Pardew insists that Newcastle’s owner Mike Ashley will not let players leave on the cheap.

“The one security I have is that Mike Ashley is a difficult seller. He is not going to let someone go for seven million pounds. He is going to want top, top money.

“But if Yohan Cabaye gets a call from Manchester United and they tell him he is going to be the next Paul Scholes, I am not going to be able to stop him.

“It is going to cost Manchester United a shedload of money, but until we have Champions League football, and we might have that by this weekend, we cannot compete with that.”

Pardew compared the situation with what Arsenal faced last summer as Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas were lured away from the club.

“We have put ourselves in a similar position to Arsenal,” he said.

However, Pardew remains fairly optimistic, claiming that new signings which complement what he already has might help keep the better players at the club.

“If we didn’t have Demba Ba we wouldn’t have Papiss Cisse and we are trying to bring another player to the club who is close to Yohan Cabaye. That is another little connection and a bit of a clue for you,” he said.