Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has warned interested clubs over Cheik Tiote.
Tiote has already been linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham, and Newcastle are bracing themselves for any approach when the transfer window opens next month.
Pardew said: "He's a big target because he's a great player, and great players are going to be targets.
"We are always on our guard with Cheik because we realise that to us, he is very, very important and it would be very, very difficult to get him out of here."