Pardew determined to hold on to Ba and Tiote
IN FORM ... Newcastle striker Demba Ba has netted 15 goals this season.
ALAN Pardew is braced for a testing transfer deadline day amid interest in a clutch of Newcastle United players.
But he’s still confident the club can hold on to its in-demand players.
A year ago, striker Andy Carroll was sold to Liverpool in a controversial £35m move.
Newcastle United’s Alan Smith joins MK Dons
And Pardew is “on his guard” over Cheik Tiote, Demba Ba, Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini, but he’s hopeful the quartet will still be Newcastle players when the transfer window closes at 11pm tonight.
However, there could be some outward movement, with clubs eyeing loans for some United players, among them Peter Lovenkrands and Leon Best. Ex-Newcastle manager Chris Hughton is understood to be keen to take striker Lovenkrands – whose contract is up in the summer – to Birmingham City until the end of the season.
Of more concern is the likes of Tiote and Ba, though the former’s continued participation in the African Cup of Nations would seemingly preclude a move.
Pardew said: “On the back of Cisse coming in, not to lose Cheik, Demba or Colo or anybody else means we’d have had the best window we could have had in my view.” Chelsea have repeatedly been linked with a move for Tiote, though the midfielder himself is not understood to be eyeing an exit.
And the Stamford Bridge club could wait until the summer before making a move for the 25-year-old, who has been a revelation since his cut-price move from FC Twente in the summer of 2010.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp angered St James’s Park officials when he revealed Ba – who has netted 15 goals since his move from West Ham United last summer – has a release clause in his contract.
However, Ba used social networking site Twitter to distance himself from speculation surrounding his immediate future.
Meanwhile, Hughton is looking to strengthen his attack for the club’s Championship push.
Lovenkrands scored 13 league goals in United’s successful promotion campaign under Hughton the season before last.
Newcastle, having signed Cisse, may be willing to loan Lovenkrands, though the 31-year-old could prefer to see out the rest of his United career at St James’s Park before making a decision on his future.
Twitter: @milesstarforth
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Weather for Jarrow
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
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