Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew will have funds to replace Demba Ba should they sell him in January.

The People says Pardew has been given guarantees that if Liverpool or any other club trigger Ba's£7 million release clause then there will be no repeat of the January 2011 fiasco when the Merseysiders bought Newcastle top gun Andy Carroll for £35m leaving Pardew without a replacement.

A Toon source explained : "Derek Llambias was pointing out that Newcastle will continue to be prudent both in terms of fees and wages. They won't pay more than a player is worth.

"But if any of the club's top players leave and that includes Ba, there are funds available to Alan Pardew to replace them.

"There is a Plan B in place. What happened after Andy Carroll left nearly two years ago won't happen again."