Alan Pardew remains a big fan of Andy Carroll but has refused to be drawn on whether he would be keen on bringing the striker back to Newcastle on loan.
Magpies boss won't discuss loan move, but is planning to keep Ba
Alan Pardew remains a big fan of Andy Carroll but has refused to be drawn on whether he would be keen on bringing the striker back to Newcastle on loan.
The Magpies sold the England international to Liverpool in January 2011 for £35million, with it felt that the terms on offer were too good to turn down.
Pardew would have preferred to keep Carroll on Tyneside, having seen him mature into a top Premier League performer.
It has been suggested that he could be tempted back to the North East this summer, with Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers hinting that he would be willing to sanction a loan deal.
Terrific
Pardew, though, is reluctant discuss the future of a player that does not belong to him.
"There is a lot of talk about players when new managers go in and their situations get all cloudy," he told
Sky Sports News HD.
"I don't think that's completely resolved, one way or the other. I wouldn't really like to comment.
"He did an absolutely terrific job here. I have always supported him while he has been at Liverpool when other people weren't. I thought he got a bit of a raw deal, if I'm honest.
"I think he's going to be a great player, but where he treads the boards, so to speak, we will have to wait and see."
Contract
Pardew already has plenty of firepower on his books, but continues to fend off rumours regarding Demba Ba's future - with the Senegal international known to have a buy-out clause in his contract which can be activated up until the end of July.
"The situation with Demba has been the same since he arrived at the football club," said Pardew.
"He has a contract to Newcastle United, he is loved here and he had a brilliant, especially the first half of last season.
"After the African Nations, I think it didn't go perhaps as well for Demba as it could have. That's something we'll look at because we want him to be at his very, very best.
"We're planning for him to have another great season for us."
