Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has confirmed that the club received an "unacceptable" bid for midfielder Yohan Cabaye earlier today.
Reports surfaced this afternoon suggesting that Arsenal have made a £10m offer for the French midfielder that was quickly rejected by the Magpies.
Cabaye was left out of the Newcastle squad to face Manchester City this evening, and before the game Pardew confirmed that the bid did play a part in his absence.
"To be honest we want to focus on what's important for Newcastle," Pardew told Sky Sports News.
"What I can confirm, on the eve of a game, is we've had a bid for one of the players which we don't think is acceptable, therefore I have to pick a team that I think is going to get a result.
"The rights or wrongs of that bid I will leave others to think about, but I know what I think of it. I don't want to go over the same point, I understand that [the bid] is the main focus of the media, but my main focus is to try and get a result."
You can follow live commentary of Newcastle's first game of the new Premier League season with Sports Mole here.
Barney Corkhill
