Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew says it would be a "blow" losing Demba Ba next month.

With 10 goals in 16 appearances, the Senegal striker is every bit as important to Newcastle United as he was this time last year.

"It's out of my hands and it's out of the club's hands to a degree," argued Pardew. "We have tried to remove the clause but without success.

"It's still there but Demba's still our player and it's still going to take a lot for him to leave.

"I think he has a lot of loyalty to us. We've done brilliantly for him as a football club, given him a platform and it would be a blow to us to lose him in the next window."