Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew reveals difficulty in attracting players to St James’ Park

Alan Pardew set for first game in charge of Newcastle against Liverpool (Getty Images)

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Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has revealed that convincing prospective transfer targets to join St James’ Park is the most difficult aspect during the transfer window.

After raking in a record £35 million for Andy Carroll in January, Pardew is preparing for a busy summer but has expressed his desire to find similar deals to that of Cheik Tiote, who arrived on Tyneside for £3.5m.

A quick success at St James Park, the midfielder who signed from FC Twente has inspired the former Charlton boss to discover similar low-profile players, but have the potential to develop.

“That’s not easy, not for the sort of fee we paid. There are players like Cheick out there, but they are a lot more money than we paid for Cheik,” Pardew told reporters.

“It’s difficult, but it’s something that chief scout Graham Carr, myself and my scouting team are all on top of.”

Whilst bringing in new faces, Pardew also wants to keep his current line of stars that have helped the Magpies secure their Premier League status after being promoted from the Championship last term.

Kevin Nolan has expressed his desire to stay at the club, but uncertainty still hangs over the futures of Joey Barton and Luis Enrique and Pardew recognises that brining in new players will be as hard as keeping present ones.

“Getting players over the line, whether they are players you have at the club already or new players, is one of the most difficult parts of the game, convincing players that the future here is bright, which I think it is,” he added.

“We have got a good foundation to go forward now, so attracting players shouldn’t be a problem and hopefully the financial side of it, we can find.

“We are competing against Champions League teams and foreign teams – it’s always difficult.

“They are not going to be done quickly, but hopefully they will be done.”

After the departure of Carroll, Pardew has targeted Newcastle’s attack as an area that will be strengthened in the transfer window.

“For sure, our pool of strikers needs boosting, there’s no doubt about that, and that will be high on the agenda,” he concluded.