Transfer news: Newcastle's Alan Pardew braced for battle with PSG over Yohan Cabaye

 

Ed Aarons
Tuesday 28 January 2014 01:09 GMT
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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew expects another PSG bid for Yohan Cabaye
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew expects another PSG bid for Yohan Cabaye (Owen Humphreys/PA)

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Having seen Andy Carroll join Liverpool for £35m at the 11th hour back in 2011, Alan Pardew knows just how unpredictable the last day of the January transfer window can be. So it was no surprise that the Newcastle United manager was not exactly sanguine about his prospects of holding on to the club’s star midfielder Yohan Cabaye this week in the face of sustained interest from Paris Saint-Germain.

“No, I’m not confident,” Pardew said when asked on Monday about Cabaye ahead of tonight’s trip to Norwich City. “I don’t think any team not in a Champions League position or fighting for a Champions League spot could be. We know we have got a club interested in Cabaye, a very wealthy club and a powerful club, and we are conscious of that. We are doing our best to protect Newcastle.”

Newcastle turned down a £14m offer from the Ligue 1 leaders over the weekend but manager Laurent Blanc is expected to come back with an improved bid before Friday’s deadline. Newcastle’s owner, Mike Ashley, is thought to want around £20m for the 28-year-old, who refused to play in August after the club rejected an offer from Arsenal.

While Hull City will arrive at Selhurst Park this evening with new strikers Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long – signed for a combined £12m – in their ranks, the Crystal Palace manager, Tony Pulis, has so far been frustrated in his attempts to bring in new faces. He admitted yesterday that a move for the former Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko had broken down but remains hopeful it can still be resurrected.

The 29-year-old Mali international has been without a club since being released by PSG last summer and is understood to be holding out for an 18-month contract.

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