Pardew Insists Newcastle Won't Pay Over The Odds for Striker Targets

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has suggested the club could walk away from deals to sign Darren Bent and Bafetimbi Gomis if Aston Villa and Lyon stand firm in their valuations of the strikers.

Pardew has made it clear that the club's priority ahead of the new season is to bring in a new striker to ease the goal scoring burden on Papiss Cisse, but Newcastle have failed to make any headway in any of their transfer dealings as of yet.

The club have been in talks with Lyon and Aston Villa over moves for Gomis and Bent, while Loic Remy, the man who rejected the chance to move to the north east to instead join Queens Park Rangers in January, remains another option.

With Newcastle's new director of football Joe Kinnear also placing the acquisition of a new striker at the top of his priority list, Pardew remains confident of an imminent arrival, but insists the club will not be drawn into paying over the odds.

"I'm not concerned about any of them slipping away," Pardew said. "I think that we are in the market still.

"We will pay what we think is the right price.

"We have always managed to get somebody over the line. I think we will this time."

The Newcastle boss went on to confirm that former Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland striker Darren Bent is on the club's radar, but reports suggest the club may be about to lose out on the 29-year-old to Fulham.

The Sunderland Echo suggest the Magpies have not yet submitted a formal bid for Bent, whose chances of signing the striker could be further hampered by their reluctance to match the wages he currently earns at Villa Park.

While Fulham have seen an opening bid for of £4m rejected by Paul Lambert's side, the west London club have reportedly responded with a bid of £6m which could prove to be enough to secure the striker's services.