Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has told midfielder Yohan Cabaye that he has to play for the club whilst he is still in their books despite reports linking him with a summer move to Arsenal.

The Gunners made a £10million bid just 24-hours before Newcastle’s first game of the season away at Manchester City, a game that they went on to lose 4-0 with Cabaye missing out because of not being mentally fit to play after the bid was made.

The Frenchman then refused to play for the club against West Ham United last weekend, which ended 0-0, and he was then not included in the Capital One Cup game against Morcambe.

It is believed that Cabaye is interested in moving to the Emirates Stadium and despite wanting the move, Pardew has told the player that he should play for the club whilst he is still there.

Pardew said: ‘We’ve still got to wait until the window shuts before we can say yes or nay on a definite, but what I have said to Yohan Cabye is that I expect him to play this weekend and until another bid comes in from Arsenal that is accepted or not, that will be the situation.

‘I think he may play, but we’ll have to wait and see over the next couple of days how that manifests itself.

‘We’re all conscious that it’s about the football club and it’s the football club that’s important. We have to protect the football club and as managers and chairmen and boards a lot of that has gone on this summer, making sure that agents aren’t dictating the situation. It’s more the agent than the player, in my opinion.

‘I hope I can keep all my players, because you don’t want to lose a world class player like Yohan Cabaye and hopefully the addition of one or two others.

‘We need and would like another striker, or maybe another two flair players in the side, so we are in the market for anybody in that field that we think is going to work for us. We work in a small spectrum of the market in terms of the finance we have available, so that’s what we’re concentrating on.’

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt