Cheik Tioté has added to Alan Pardew’s problems by signalling his intention to leave Newcastle United during the January transfer window.
While Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner, would be unlikely to sanction selling the 28-year-old Ivorian midfield enforcer unless the price were agreeable, Pardew could do without one of his key players being so obviously unsettled at a time when he is fighting for his job.
Tioté, who has the best part of three years outstanding on a contract due to expire in June 2017, made his feelings clear to reporters in the Ivory Coast. “I want to leave,” he said. “I’ve spent four years with Newcastle and I think I’ve reached the stage where it’s maybe time to look elsewhere for a new challenge.
“I will focus on the upcoming games and see what happens between now and December but it is true there was contact for me in the summer from Arsenal and also from a club in Russia. I would prefer to stay in England, though.”
While Arsenal’s interest was not sustained, Lokomotiv Moscow pursued the former FC Twente midfielder with zeal during the last transfer window and Pardew acknowledged Tioté had become unsettled. “There was a period of unsettlement for Cheik,” said Newcastle’s beleaguered manager who has identified Tioté as one of the key players he is relying on to help his struggling side secure their first win of the season and escape from the bottom three.
Pardew has urged Ashley to extend Tioté’s contract beyond 2017 but the owner may be tempted to cash in on a player who cost only £3.5m when Chris Hughton signed him from Twente.