Pardew: Newcastle will not sell players

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew insists that the club will not sell their marquee players this summer, unless they are paid over the odds in "an Andy Carroll price". The Magpies fell just short of a surprise Champions League qualification last season, securing Europa League football with a fifth-placed Premier League finish. And, with several clubs now reportedly ready to swoop for the Tyneside outfit's top talent, the Englishman claims that sales will only be made at prices which match the "inflated" £35 million fee received for Carroll from Liverpool in January 2011. Pardew told reporters: “I know we can sign two or three ­players and keep all those we have. I know we can do that. I think we will be stronger. “And if we do lose a ­marquee player to a ­really inflated price – an Andy Carroll price – then we have got to trust our ­judgment and go into the marketplace and bring in an equivalent, and I think Mike [Ashley, owner] is quite comfortable with that. “The big job this ­summer is keeping players, as well as signing them. I think that is the key. “We still have a window wide open and everyone is analysing and looking at what they did over the last year and at what other teams did. “A lot of people will look at us, so I’m not out of the woods on that for sure. I don’t fear a big offer coming in, I expect it. I expect a bid for one of our marquee players. Whether it’s enough money to take the player away, we will have to wait and see, but it would have to be a lot of money. “I would be very ­surprised if the spirit and ­camaraderie we built up last season was broken up, unless we lost four or fiveplayers – and I cannot see that in a million years.” The former West Ham boss also called for his squad to look to improve on their impressive showing during the last campaign. “We ­finished fifth, but that was last season," he added. “It is important that the message gets through to the players here that, while it is a good finish, it isn’t winning the league. “There are still four places to aim at above us and, if you want to be a winner, then you have to be better than you were last season.”