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Alan Pardew refutes claims over Jonas Gutierrez's Newcastle future

Jonas Gutierrez
Image: Jonas Gutierrez: Decision to let Argentinian leave made for 'footballing reasons'

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew says his decision to tell Jonas Gutierrez to look for a new club was done solely for football reasons.

Gutierrez is due to return to the club next month after completing his recovery from testicular cancer, but he does so with his future at the club in doubt after critical quotes attributed to him about Pardew.

The 31-year-old claimed Pardew told him he no longer had a future at St James’ Park last December, just 20 days after he had surgery in an attempt to cure his cancer.

He had already been loaned out to Norwich City before then, having fallen out of the first-team picture before the start of the 2013-14 season, and Pardew says his decision had nothing to do with Gutierrez's illness.

Pardew is also adamant that a man who is held in great affection within the camp will be welcomed back with open arms.

He said: "It was a pure football decision and those are decisions that have to be made.

"We've supported him and tried to do what we can when his illness was made known to us before it was known publicly.

"What he has done is absolutely marvellous, to recover like he has. I believe he's picking up an award. We're very proud of what he's done. He needs to rest assured it was purely a football decision."

Pardew is looking forward to the return to Premier League action against QPR on Saturday, although he admits his squad will be stretched by injury as they look for a sixth successive win.

Fabricio Coloccini will definitely miss out with a calf injury and Steven Taylor's knee problem is likely to keep him on the sidelines, leaving Pardew to team up Paul Dummett and Mike Williamson at the heart of his defence.

Cheick Tiote and Rolando Aarons are also out of Saturday’s game and Mehdi Abeid is a doubt after suffering an ankle injury while playing for Algeria.

“We’ve suffered some injuries,” Pardew added. “We’ve managed to repair the squad a bit, but are still missing one or two players.

“There will be a bit more expectation on us this weekend than in recent weeks, and therefore a different type of hurdle to overcome. We’ve done really well and the mood in the camp is buoyant. Our young players deserve a lot of credit, as do our senior guys.”

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