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Alan Pardew has revealed that he left Newcastle United because he grew frustrated with not having control over transfers.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph on the eve of a new season, Pardew says that Newcastle signed players for the “club’s purposes” rather than to aid his first XI.

And while he said he was “aware” of the agenda when he took over at United, he admitted that he grew frustrated at the way the club were motivated to sign players who were a “better financial proposition” rather than stars who would slot into his team straight away.

It appears to confirm suspicions that Pardew and Graham Carr were at loggerheads – while also hinting at flaws in the club’s transfer policy. Here’s what Pardew had to say.

PARDEW ON NEWCASTLE’S TRANSFER POLICY:

He said: “The agenda. I didn’t want the agenda I had. I wanted a different one.

“The one thing that is different at (Crystal Palace) is that I have full control of transfers. I’ve not had that before and actually not many managers in the Premier League have it. The chairman and I have no one between us and we discuss things every day.

“That was something that was important to me after Newcastle because there were players who went in there who were for the club’s purposes and not for my first XI purposes.

“That’s frustrating, especially after I had such a great start. When you have a way of playing and there’s a player you have to take who’s a better financial proposition than one who fits better then that’s tough.

“Some clubs have different agendas. You are the manager there but you are there to coach the team. The philosophy is set by a sporting director – you have that at Seville, successful clubs, and maybe Manchester City are like that with Pellegrini.

“I don’t have a problem with that. I didn’t have a problem with it at Newcastle – that was the agenda and it was explained to me when I went there. But as a manager I prefer this agenda.”

PARDEW ON NEWCASTLE PROTESTS:

“At Newcastle it had got to a point where it was very difficult for me. We had just beaten Everton, we were ninth in the division and were unpopular.

“I had taken this team into the quarter-finals of the Europa League, OK we had a down year and some dodgy moments after we sold a couple of players, but I just thought, ‘You know this is not going anywhere now. I need a new challenge’.

“Maybe my enthusiasm was in danger of dipping and that is something I am really on my guard about. But was I really giving myself the best possible chance? Sometimes you need a new belief, a new challenge. And I thought, ‘You know what, this [Palace] is what I need’.”

PARDEW ON SIGNING YOHAN CABAYE:

“When we initially rang, PSG must have thought ‘You must be kidding’. I genuinely felt that. My relationship with Yohan went in our favour, the finances of the club went in our favour. He’s Crystal Palace’s biggest signing.

“What it means is that when I sit down with Patrick Bamford, Bakary Sako, Connor Wickham, Yannick Bolasie – because teams are courting Bolasie – I can say to Bolasie, ‘Will you get a better feeder (of the ball) than Yohan Cabaye?’

“On the training ground the players can quite obviously see his quality – and therefore his presence. One of the reasons I really targeted Yohan was not just because of his playing ability but because of his professionalism off the pitch.

“We have a good team of pros here. But when you see a top technical player doing exactly all the things you need to do off the pitch then there's an example to every young player at Crystal Palace and every player who ever passes through here will take a bit of Cabaye with him because he does that.

“I like to think he’s going to be our Fabregas – someone who unlocks the door in a tight game; someone who knows when to attack, when to keep the ball.

“I watch Fabregas and, at times, Chelsea are, say, leading 2-0 and he has the chance to pass and bisect the centre-half and full-back and instead he will keep it. He knows that the better option is to win the game. To keep the ball.

“Cabaye has that intelligence and game management as well. Yohan won’t be my captain here but he will be the player I talk to most during the games and at half-time. He can sense it on the pitch for me.”