Newcastle considered bid for Tottenham’s Andros Townsend

Alan Pardew has revealed that Newcastle United considered a move to bring Andros Townsend to St James’ Park over the summer.

The Tottenham winger has been in superb form for Spurs this season after he returned from a temporary spell at Queens Park Rangers.

The 22-year-old enjoyed a sparkling England debut as his goal helped the Three Lions wrap up a 4-1 win over Montenegro on Friday night.

And Pardew says the Magpies pondered making a move for the winger in the summer before opting against it.

“We know [Townsend] because there was talk of him going out on loan,” Pardew told Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday.

“Obviously, when you look at his career, he’s been out on loan a number of times and we looked at him this year and thought ‘would he interest us?’.

“We weren’t sure – I think that’s where everybody was at the start of the season.

“We’ve got fantastic players at our football club and is he better than the ones we’ve got?

“I was a bit like ‘hmm, not sure’. I think [Andre Villas-Boas] was a little bit like that as well.

“But fair play to the lad, he’s come into Tottenham’s team and done terrific and now he’s made that extra step which is great for England and Spurs in particular.

“He brings a ‘nothing to lose’ character to the pitch. He was a massive bonus the other night.”