Arsenal transfer news: Managerless Newcastle set to rebuff approach for Moussa Sissoko

The French midfielder has been outstanding for the Magpies this season

Martin Hardy
Tuesday 30 December 2014 22:56 GMT
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Arsenal are believed to be lining up a £9m offer for Moussa Sissoko
Arsenal are believed to be lining up a £9m offer for Moussa Sissoko

Managerless Newcastle United are ready to snub a £9 million bid which Arsenal are believed to be lining up for the club’s French midfielder Moussa Sissoko.

The player’s future has been in the spotlight since Alan Pardew gave notice he intended to quit as manager of the club on Sunday evening.

The 53-year-old, who is expected to be unveiled as Crystal Palace’s new manager today, had been unhappy about his lack of input in player recruitment and saw the club’s most saleable player leave during two of the winter transfer windows he was in charge; when Andy Carroll went to Liverpool and Yohan Cabaye joined Paris Saint-Germain.

Pardew, who maintained a strong relationship with Sissoko, was concerned his team could be weakened once more with the departure of the player signed from Toulouse for £1.8m in 2013.

Pardew said his official goodbyes to staff and players at the Newcastle training ground this afternoon, entering the club’s academy and travelling across from the facility to shake hands with Peter Beardsley as the club’s reserve side played Gateshead in a behind-closed-doors friendly before meeting the rest of the staff he has worked with for the last four years.

Alan Pardew had wanted more input in player recruitment (Getty)

Two members of Pardew’s back-room staff, John Carver and Steve Stone, will take charge of Newcastle’s home Premier League clash with Burnley tomorrow, though goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman is expected to move to Palace to join Pardew.

Newcastle have agreed a compensation package of around £2.5m to allow Pardew to leave his contract with the club almost six years early. He is expected to be announced as the successor to Neil Warnock at Palace today on a four-year deal and is eager to be involved during the home game with Aston Villa on New Year's Day.

Newcastle insist they will work their way through a list of candidates to replace Pardew, with Carver and Stone also down to take control of the club’s FA Cup tie with Leicester on Saturday. The Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini, who was installed as the bookmakers’ favourite for the job on Monday afternoon, wants to concentrate on playing.

The Hull manager, Steve Bruce, who has been linked with the position in the past, would cost Newcastle in excess of £1m through a compensation clause he has in his contract.

Meanwhile, Gus Poyet, the manager of local rivals Sunderland, said he thought Pardew’s decision to leave was down to club affiliation: “They’ve lost players but apart from one year, they’ve been finishing in the top 10 or 12. It was a difficult summer and start to the season.

“I think it’s very personal. I think it’s a feeling inside him, if it’s someone coming for you from a club where you have been before.”

The Newcastle forward Papiss Cissé has accepted a charge of violent conduct from the Football Association for elbowing the Everton defender Seamus Coleman in the club’s 3-2 victory on Sunday that has proved to be Pardew’s final game in charge.

The incident, which happened in the first half, saw Cissé elbow Coleman in the face and was missed by the referee Craig Pawson. Cissé, who is heading off to the African Cup of Nations in January, has been banned for three games and will miss Newcastle’s game with Burnley tomorrow, the FA Cup tie with Leicester and the trip to Chelsea on 10 January, by which time Newcastle are expected to have appointed a new manager.

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