Newcastle United managing director Derek Llambias insists they did all they could to keep Shay Given from joining Manchester City.

"The Shay situation was really difficult for us - he was an icon here, he was like Alan Shearer," he told the Evening Chronicle. "We didn't want to lose that.

"We never wanted to lose him.

"We emphasised that to him.

"Mike Ashley flew into to see Shay and tried to make him realise how valuable he was to us."

He added: "We want to continue working with Shay on his Macmillan charities. We don't want to lose this relationship with Shay and I've made that very clear with the charity.

"It's unfortunate, but what can you do when a player wants to leave?

"It's no good having a player sitting in the stands, what can you do?

"It doesn't do anybody any good."