NEWCASTLE UNITED held on to Papiss Cisse when another transfer window closed last night, but the £8m-rated Senegalese striker will still be the subject of a fresh bid from Russia this month.
Just days after the crushing 3-0 defeat to neighbours Sunderland and the club’s failure to replace Yohan Cabaye following his departure to Paris St Germain, there was a chance of another transfer exit yesterday.
Turkish club Trabzonspor made a fresh approach in a bid try to land Cisse but there was no agreement reached and he remains part of the Newcastle squad.
And then sources in Istanbul claimed Fenerbahce tried to broker a deal before the Turkish transfer window closed at 11pm last night after identifying the former Freiburg man to fill the void left by injured pair Emmanuel Emenike and Pierre Webo.
Pardew is understood to be keen to avoid another player leaving before the end of the season, but it is understood that a more attractive offer will arrive from Russia before the end of this month for him to deal with.
The Russian transfer window remains open until February 27 and Rubin Kazan have the financial clout to seriously tempt the Newcastle boardroom in to selling – and there has already been contact made.
Newcastle have already resisted overtures from both Turkey and Qatar, where Cisse could have substantially improved his Tyneside weekly wage with Al-Rayyan.
But Rubin Kazan are keen to strike a deal with the player and club and then it will be a case of whether or not Newcastle accept a deal for a player who has struggled for good form this season.
Cisse, who turns 29 in June, has only scored three goals this campaign and his penalty in the 5-1 win over Stoke City on Boxing Day remains his only Premier League strike since last April.
He has found himself on the bench more often than not this season following the arrival of Loic Remy and he has not started a Newcastle game in the Premier League since October 5.
Remy is suspended for the next two matches for his sending off at Norwich City a week ago, so Shola Ameobi looks set to start up front again at Chelsea against this weekend.
Luuk De Jong, signed on loan until the end of the season from Borussia Monchengladbach, looked well short of match sharpness when he was introduced in the second half of Saturday’s defeat to Sunderland.
Newcastle were well beaten by their North-East rivals and fans let their frustrations known when they turned so vociferously on owner Mike Ashley and director of football Joe Kinnear after the failure to replace Cabaye following his £20m return to France.
But the players who Pardew did select to face the Black Cats should still have been able to turn in a much better display than they actually did in front of their home Tyneside crowd.
Skipper Cheik Tiote, 27, said: “All I can say to them (the fans) is sorry for this defeat again because we cannot accept that. It's two seasons now we have been beaten by Sunderland at home and this is the worst, worst thing in my career, so I just want to say sorry to them.”
Newcastle’s awful weekend did not improve yesterday either when they were charged along with Norwich City by the Football Association for failing to control their players in the closing stages of the draw at Carrow Road on January 28.
After Remy, who was red carded for lowering his head towards Bradley Johnson, scuffled with the Norwich midfielder in the closing stages, both sets of players became embroiled in pushing and shoving.
And the FA confirmed yesterday that both clubs have been charged and have until 6pm tomorrow to respond.
The statement read: “Both Norwich City and Newcastle United have been charged by the FA for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour.”
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