Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is confident that club owner Mike Ashley will give him all of the £35million the club received for striker Andy Carroll to spend during the summer.
The Magpies boss is coming to terms with playing the remainder of the season without a man who he had been determined to keep after the England international sensationally joined Liverpool on Monday night, and is now comforting himself and the club's supporters with the prospect of a close-season spending spree.
Pardew said: "The one thing I said to Mike yesterday was, 'Look, if this boy is going to go, this money has to be reinvested in the team, all of it', and he has assured me of that."
He added: "For the Newcastle fan, that is the most important message I can give today, that all that money will be used.
"Could it have been used yesterday? Late last night, we made a couple of bids, but we were getting extortionate figures thrown at us. It was ridiculous.
"Were we going to pay an overhiked price for a lesser product than Andy Carroll? No, so unfortunately as I sit here now, I am weaker than I was yesterday because I had Andy Carroll maybe four or five weeks away (from full fitness).
"No, I am not comfortable with it, but it is what it is."
Source: PA
