Newcastle United managing director Derek Llambias says the contentious naming rights change for St James' Park helped fund their deal for Moussa Sissoko.

Toon are again playing at St James' Park after it was decided to seek a naming rights partner for the stadium.

Llambias told The Journal: "Take the naming rights, for example. It's such a contentious issue - we understood that but what we were trying to do was bring a player onto the pitch. Look at Sissoko, the naming rights have helped pay for him. That's money we didn't have. If you look at it - (we've signed) Sissoko and it (the name of the stadium) is now back to St James' Park.

"That wasn't bad business. It is what it is, it's the future. Our size of club just can't compete with the Chrysler deals (Man U). We just can't do it."