YOU’RE A BUNCH OF SHARKS
Pardew slams agents chasing £5m Ba bonus
ALAN PARDEW has torn into the agents chasing a staggering £5million in commission for the sale of Demba Ba, branding them ‘sharks’.
‘I think Demba’s becoming a victim of a few sharks around him,’ said the Newcastle boss.
Chelsea’s attempts to make the Newcastle striker their first signing of the January transfer window hit trouble yesterday after ‘unproductive’ talks with Ba’s representatives. It is understood they are miles apart on the financial terms of any deal.
That has left Pardew preparing to pick Ba against Everton tomorrow with supporters angry at the Senegal forward for wanting to leave St James’ Park.
Pardew turned his guns on the middlemen
chasing levels of commission that could oblige the buying club to invest up to £28m in a 27-year-old who has a £7m release clause in his current contract and wants £90,000 a week. Pardew added: ‘I feel a little bit sorry for Demba because I think people (claim to) represent him who are not actually representing him. ‘People out there are fuelling this who are not actually involved. But they want to be involved and that is the sort of world we are in. ‘I can’t remember a situation like this, with this level of speculation and information being put about. That’s a frustration for us as a club, massively.’ Pardew believes Ba, scorer of 13 Premier League goals this season, is mentally tough enough to handle any abuse from Newcastle fans. ‘Demba is as mentally strong a player as I have come across,’ said Pardew. ‘He’s had to cope with injury earlier in his career and disappointments with the way some clubs have treated him. He can’t be disappointed with the way we’ve treated him so I hope he rewards us by staying with us for the next couple of years. ‘It’s difficult for our fans to feel Demba is solid with the team, amid everything else that’s going on. When he’s played he’s never represented that, he’s always represented his full commitment to the team. ‘But having said that our fans want loyalty. This is a big club and I think perhaps he needs to make a statement at some point.’ Pardew urged Ba to make up his mind soon about Newcastle’s offer that remains on the table. ‘He needs to make a decision fairly early,’ he said. ‘For everyone’s sake, most of all himself. And especially for our fans — they need to know if he’s going to be with us to the summer or not. ‘We’ve had a few discussions but if he feels our offer isn’t right for him, what can I do? He has never said he wanted to leave the club. ‘We’ve coped with it before and we’ll cope with it again but ideally we want him to stay. In this window and in the situation we’re in, I’d like to think he will stay. But that will be his decision.’ Lille defender Mathieu Debuchy is due at St James’ Park tomorrow to complete his £5.5m move. He will be in the squad to face Brighton in the FA Cup third round on Saturday after Danny Simpson broke a toe at Arsenal last weekend. Pardew added: ‘A player of his quality will boost everybody. Defensively, we are so short.’