NEWCASTLE United have accepted that Jose Enrique no longer wants to be at the club, and Alan Pardew is determined to resolve the unsettled Spaniard’s future quickly in order to secure a replacement.

Since returning to pre-season training this month, Enrique, who has entered the final year of his current deal, has consistently refused to discuss the Magpies’ offer of a new contract.

As a result, Pardew has begrudgingly accepted that the left-back does not want to remain on Tyneside, but with neither Liverpool nor Arsenal having made a formal offer for his services despite persistent speculation linking them with a bid, Enrique is due to travel to the United States this weekend ahead of Newcastle’s three-game tour.

The impasse is a major headache for United, as there is a determination to avoid a scenario whereby Enrique, rated at around £8-10m, is allowed to leave for nothing next summer.

If, as looks likely, he is to leave in the current transfer window, Pardew would prefer a sale to occur quickly, thereby avoiding a repeat of January transfer-deadline day, when Andy Carroll’s departure to Liverpool was sanctioned at too late a stage to enable the purchase of a replacement.

“It is not an ideal situation for us as you can imagine,” said the Newcastle manager. “It is difficult. We have offered him (Enrique) a massive contract for this club, but he does not seem to want to sign it.

“There is a difference between his situation and that of Joey (Barton). Joey seems pretty focused on Newcastle, whereas Jose…well, the noises coming out of his camp are that he wants to get a new club playing Champions League football.

“We cannot offer him that at the moment, so that seems to be his focus. Maybe that will change, but it is a moving feast.

“We have to be ready because, if he goes, it is going to leave a big hole and we will need to fill it quickly.

“That is why we will have to have a conversation about a cut-off point closer to the time. And when I say nearer to the time, I mean two weeks before the deadline.

“We’re going to have to give ourselves some sort of chance to make sure it [the Carroll scenario] does not happen again.”

One potential replacement slipped through the net earlier this week when Neil Taylor agreed a new four-year contract with Swansea City.

Newcastle thought they had exploited a clause in the Welshman’s contract that enabled them to sign him for £1m, but legal discussions appear to have contradicted their earlier assessment.

“I don’t think Neil Taylor will come to the club,” said Pardew. “We thought there was a price that was set in his contract.

“That has been proved not to be the case. Therefore, it started to get a little bit higher than we anticipated in terms of the fee. I think the boy will stay at Swansea.”

Pardew has also failed to make any headway in his pursuit of Mevlut Erdinc, but the Newcastle boss remains confident he will be able to land a top-class striker before the end of next month.

A number of alternative avenues on the continent are being pursued – it is understood Magpies officials are monitoring strikers based in both France and Spain – and while Pardew is continually at pains to underline the extent of the investment that has already been made into Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Sylvain Marveaux, he insists the funds needed to recruit a proven goalscorer are available.

“I’ve already spoken about the money we’ve got in (from the Carroll deal) and that we’ve spent, and you’d be surprised with the deals we’ve done because they actually amount to a fair bit,” he said.

“But we’ve got enough to bring a striker in of the right ilk for this club, and that’s what we need to focus on. When we secure that player, then we’ll look again.

“I think it (the Andy Carroll sale) has been a big part of what we’ve done, and that money has been put back into the club, full stop.

“The wage bill has gone up quite a bit. I also think we need to make sure that, over the next three or four years, we grow. Our finances have been structured in a way that the team grows each year.”