Pardew untroubled by Erding disinterest
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has stated that he won’t be held to ransom by Paris Saint-Germain striker Mevlut Erding, following a dispute over bonuses hindering his potential transfer to the club.
The rumour mill has suggested Erding is at the top of Pardew’s wish list in terms of transfers, but the ex-West Ham United boss insists he won’t be pleading the Turkish front-man to join the Magpies.
Pardew told The Journal: "It's quite easy for me: if the boy wants to stay at his club and be third choice and doesn't want to come to Newcastle, then I don't want him because Newcastle, for me, are a bigger club.
"I'm not being disrespectful and I know that Paris Saint-Germain are in the Champions League, but with our stadium, our support and the squad we have got, we are the bigger club.
"We have to be careful. Some of the things being quoted are not from him and we have got to cut through it. It's difficult to criticise the player because sometimes it's the agent or someone else not getting what he wants.
"But we won't bring him to the club if he doesn't want to be here. We are certainly not going to force his hand."
The 24 year-old striker has made 51 appearances for PSG during his time at the club, scoring 22 goals in the process.
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Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.