Pardew fearful of late Enrique exit

The St James’ Park boss is looking to rebuild the team left to him by predecessor Chris Hughton and is desperate not to be short of players when the season kicks off on August 13.

Supporters have already seen the arrival of former West Ham striker Demba Ba alongside Yohan Cabaye, Mehdi Abeid and Sylvain Marveaux.

In the opposite direction, captain Kevin Nolan has followed Andy Carroll out of the exit door and, after rumours regarding the future of left-back Jose Enrique, a Twitter rant from the Spaniard on Sunday night suggests his departure is imminent.

The 25-year-old, who has made more than 100 league appearances for the Magpies, has been linked with moves to both Arsenal and Liverpool, who are both believed to be on the lookout for a left-back following the departures of Gael Clichy and Paul Konchesky respectively.

“As a manager, of course I want him to stay. The worst thing for us would be if he went late, that’s the problem," Pardew told The Journal when questioned on Enrique.

“We are trying to do some business because we need to cover ourselves in that area between now and the end of the window regardless of Enrique.

“I’m confident we’ll get at least one, and maybe two, big players in here.”

Having missed out on signing Swansea full-back Neil Taylor and with no deal done for Paris Saint-Germain striker Melvut Erding, the club still have most of the money from the sale of Carroll with which to bolster the squad, but are wary of losing their star players.

One man expected to stay is midfielder Joey Barton, despite reported interest from Manchester United.

Despite failing to agree a contract extension, the former Manchester City player has repeatedly expressed his desire to stay.

Pardew added: “I think Joey will be here. He has said all along that he wants to stay and I want him to stay, so there is no conflict there.”

By Josh Robbins