Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew will offer Cheikh Tiote a new long-term contract in an attempt to stop interest from a number of bigger clubs.
Tiote was linked with several Premier League clubs this summer, plus the midfielder received offers from a number of big spending Russian clubs, but chose to remain with Newcastle.
However, further interest has seen boss Alan Pardew become worried about losing his combative midfielder, prompting the English boss to offer a new and improved contract.
“I think, probably, towards the back end of the season we’ll have to start talking to his representatives,” Pardew told reporters ahead of Monday’s trip to Stoke City.
“We obviously had a team fighting for his services, but the finance was never really in place. I think the reality was that we were quite comfortable that he wasn’t going to go anywhere.
“And I think his contract situation needs to be resolved at the end of the season, for sure.
“I love him. He’s everything that you want in a Newcastle player. He has the quality, and of course you’ll never underestimate the fact that he wants to win. That’s something we have to be very careful about on training days.”