Pardew pleads for Ba funds

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has pleaded owner Mike Ashley to provide him with funds to buy a replacement for Demba Ba.

The Magpies are currently just two points above the relegation zone and are set to lose top scorer Ba to Chelsea, and Pardew said the Senegal international must be replaced.

“Mike Ashley has been very supportive. And he has to be even more supportive in this window and he has to find the extra money for the striker,” he told The Telegraph.

“We’re not going to buy a striker for the money we’ve received for Demba.

“We try to get the best possible deal for the club, but we do have to take into account where we are. We are in a battle to secure our Premier League status and make no bones about that.”

While Pardew is keen to strengthen his squad he does admit that buying in the January transfer window can be tough.

“You have less options in this window, but it doesn’t mean to say it’s more difficult. There’s always a player who can enhance a team,” he added.

“We have a couple of strikers (on our list) who can play out wide, which would push (Yohan) Cabaye forward to play in a loose number 10 role for us, which is a role he’s done very well for us in the past. And we have a couple who would link up well with Papiss (Cisse) through the middle.

“It’s not just a striker that’s needed, but that’s going to depend a lot on how much the striker costs us.

“That’s something I think we’ll come to later in the window.

“The return to fitness of Steven Taylor and getting (Mathieu) Debuchy has helped us massively in defence, but I still think perhaps another one is what we need.”

The Newcastle boss has also move to assure fans that there will be no repeats of the Ba situation, with the striker’s release clause triggered by Chelsea.

“There was so much concern over Demba and it’s difficult for the players because they’re in the dark a little bit and I was,” Pardew concluded.

“But I look round the team now and we haven’t got that situation with any of the others, they’re all on long-term contracts and I don’t see any of them leaving in this window.”