Money no motivator, says Ba

Newcastle striker and Chelsea target Demba Ba said he feels he is ‘detached’ from money, as the London powerhouse swoop for his services.

Magpies manager Alan Pardew has criticised the 27-year-old’s agents for ‘misrepresenting’ the striker amidst his failure to sign a new deal and interest from the Blues.

But the striker, who has scored 13 goals in 20 Premier League appearances this term, insisted he is not motivated by financial gain thanks to his Islamic faith.

“Something which is easy for me to give is money – I feel detached from it,” he told The Sun.

“I look after myself and my family but I won’t forget people who struggle. My father lives in Senegal. They are from the smaller villages and know how to distribute money to people who need it.

“People sometimes have a bad image of Islam but that is an image of what people are doing with Islam. It gives me so much.”

The Senegal international went on to recall a period following his initial move to England in which he had so little money that he struggled to buy food.

“In those days, we were eating only crisps and drinking water. We had no money but we had a lot of fun,” he continued.

“We were just having a good laugh in the African style. It doesn’t matter what you have, as long as you’re happy with the people you are with.”

Ba also spoke of the ‘gamble’ he took in joining West Ham on a deal which could have been terminated at any time due to his battle with a knee injury.

He continued: “West Ham inserted a clause that they could terminate my contract if I did not play a certain number of matches that season.

“I said to myself, ‘Take the gamble man, you’ve come from nowhere. If you go back to nowhere, it’s no problem.'”