Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has hailed the board for signing Yohan Cabaye.

Pardew signed Cabaye from French side Lille when manager of Newcastle United back in 2011. In his first season at St James' Park, the club finish fifth in the Premier League.

They were reunited in the summer when Pardew and the Palace board persuaded the French champions to sell, but it wasn't straightforward.

Pardew said: "We were very fortunate to be able to finance that deal. It was a deal that knocked us out of kilt and toy do worry about that because of the group. The chairman and the board were worried.

"I assured them that with this player, there's no player can knock on my door and say 'I want the same money as Cabaye.

"You can sign players and that doesn't happen. You increase the wage structure and they don't deliver, then you have got a problem.

"With PSG, we had difficult negotiations of course - a French club owned by Arab nation - very difficult. So we had to put a lot of work in and his agent played a big part as well."