Pardew fears Enrique exit

Alan Pardew appears to be close to accepting that Jose Enrique will leave Newcastle.

Toon boss accepts that 'unmotivated' players are likely to leave

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew appears to be close to accepting that Jose Enrique will leave the club this summer. The £9million-rated left-back is reportedly a target of Premier League rivals Liverpool, while French side Lyon are also thought to be interested. Newcastle are hopeful that Enrique will be persuaded to stay but the Spaniard has just one year remaining on his contract and talks over an extension are proving difficult. Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, could therefore decide to sell rather than allow the 25-year-old to leave for free in 12 months' time and Pardew seems to expect that conclusion. The Newcastle manager said: "The Enrique situation is something we talked about. How possible is it going to be to get him over the line? There's one or two here who possibly could go. "It's difficult because we're finding it difficult to get him to come to the table. We're safe, which was what his people said that they would wait for. "It's now the last game, and once we get the last game out of the way we'll sit down and see where we are with it. "We're very hopeful he stays but there's no point keeping a player who has set his sights on a club he has perceived is bigger. You can't keep a player that's unmotivated."