Pardew rules out striker move, targets defender

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has revealed the club will not attempt to sign a striker in January after confirming the collapse of Modibo Maiga's proposed move to Tyneside. The Sochaux player was expected to complete a £6m transfer, but the deal broke down before Christmas after a medical revealed uncertainty over one of his knees. However, Pardew, who will lose 14-goal Demba Ba to CAF Africa Cup of Nations duty in the coming weeks, has admitted the Magpies will do their homework and target a new forward during the summer rather than acting in haste during the winter window. The 50-year-old said: "I don't think we will be bringing a striker in in this window after the collapse of Maiga, which we had put a lot of work into. As far as we are concerned, we will go with what we have got." Maiga had been in Newcastle's sights since last summer, and the collapse of that move was a huge disappointment for all concerned. Asked if there was any chance it could be resurrected at a lower price, Pardew responded: "It was not a strategy to do that from us, it was just unfortunate, and unfortunate for the player. "You can imagine the player is probably more disappointed than anybody else, but these things happen and we will have to do a lot of work between now and the summer to locate another striker." Defensive target In the meantime, Newcastle will instead concentrate on trying to bring in a defender after Steven Taylor's season was ended prematurely by an Achilles injury. Pardew said: "You have to pay over the odds in this window, everybody does, and you have to accept that if you are going to invest in this window. "We won't in terms of a striker. We are looking at bringing maybe a defender in. We need to bring in a defender."