Sam Allardyce has admitted he is struggling to compete with Chelsea in the transfer market.
The Newcastle manager is looking to bring in a number of new players before the start of the season and has the backing of billionaire owner Mike Ashley.
But he concedes his efforts have been thwarted by Chelsea, who won the chase for both Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim.
As well as their spending power, Allardyce believes players are lured to Chelsea by the prospect of living in the capital and being involved in the UEFA Champions League.
"You try all you can and use all the weight behind you to persuade players to come to you," he told the News of the World.
"But when you are competing with Chelsea it makes life extremely difficult, even for Newcastle.
"There are the lures of London, Champions League football and the fact they play 56 to 60 games a year.
"Any player there can play 25 to 30 matches because of their huge fixture list every year, so it is hard."
sand king
erm, durh
he should have know that long time ago.
a-Lost-9uY
i tok he will said "We cant match Chelsea in terms of whining"..
j/k
hiphop2009
newcastle is a team to watch next season~
CKeer
No one is rich enough to splash 30 million on a 30yrs old striker who has yet to prove himself in the EPL.