No repeat of Demba Ba fiasco, vows Alan Pardew

NEWCASTLE manager Alan Pardew has told Demba Ba that even if he stays with the club until the end of the season he will be sold in the summer if the release clause remains in his contract.

Speculation is again rife that the 27-year-old Senegal international will leave next month when the £7.5 million clause in his contract becomes active again during the winter transfer window.

Pardew is confident the player is happy to stay at St James’ Park but, if he does, he will not allow the same circus about the striker’s future to unfold in the summer. The 51-year-old said: “Really and truly this window is the key, I think, because if Demba goes in this window, it will cause us a problem. I think he will stay, but there’s a possibility he could go because of the clause that’s still in force.

“We will either move Demba on or we will secure him in the summer.”

Ba, who has 11 goals this season after 16 in the previous campaign, has been linked with Arsenal, QPR and Paris St Germain among others in the run-up to the transfer window. Newcastle spent much of the summer awaiting a bid which would trigger the clause and it never came.