Hughton quiet on Bassong

// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} Newcastle interim manager Chris Hughton claims he knows nothing about Tottenham reportedly having lodged a bid for Sebastien Bassong. It was widely speculated prior to Sunday's 1-1 with Dundee United in a pre-season friendly that Newcastle had rejected a £10million offer from their Premier League counterparts.The French defender did not feature in the friendly, amid suggestions a move to White Hart Lane is edging closer.Hughton, though, insists he has had no contact with Tottenham with regards a possible sale.Speculation"The first I heard about it was when I saw it on television this morning," he said."I haven't spoken to anybody since then. It's just speculation as far as I'm concerned."At this moment, they are all Newcastle players."What happens in the future I don't know, but at this moment they are all Newcastle players."It was never my intention for me to play Bassong, he is suspended for the first game of the season."So we were always going to leave him out anyway."Hughton, however, admitted that he was not made aware of the transfer of Obafemi Martins, who signed a four-year contract with Wolfsburg on Friday.He said: "I was made aware when it was a definite deal. At this moment there are no other transfers."I don't have a remit to bring any players in, it's something I haven't spoken about."Apart from those who left last season, we have the full complement of players minus Obafemi Martins."When and if it needs to be addressed it will be at the appropriate time."It's not been difficult to plan, all you can do is work with the players that you have got."Hughton claimed the hard-fought game at Tannadice would have been enjoyed by Sir Bobby Robson who died from cancer on Friday.Robson tributeBefore kick-off there was a minute's applause as a tribute to the former England and Newcastle manager and the couple of thousand Geordie fans who travelled north chanted his name intermittently throughout the afternoon.Hughton said: "Everybody at the club knew what Sir Bobby meant to the club."I had the opportunity to meet him on numerous occasions and it has been an emotional week."But I think he would have enjoyed the game today and the passion that was shown."

Source: SKY_Sports