HARRY Redknapp has voiced his admiration for Demba Ba, and controversially claimed the Newcastle striker could have a buy-out clause in his contract that would enable interested parties to speak to the 26-year-old.

Ba was a free agent when he swapped Upton Park for St James' in the summer, but his 15 Premier League goals have made him one of the hottest properties in English football.

Newcastle have no interest in selling arguably their prize asset this month.

But Redknapp has hinted at a contractual clause that might make it difficult for them to hold on to the marksman, who left this week to link up with Senegal ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Not for the first time, the Spurs boss used yesterday's weekly press conference to reveal his liking for another club's player.

But it was the suggestion of a buy-out clause that will have caused eyebrows to raise.

Newcastle declined to comment on the situation last night, and said they would never discuss the details of one of their players' contracts.

"Demba Ba's done great hasn't he, everybody's looking at him suddenly," said Redknapp. "Anybody could have had him a year ago. Full credit to Alan Pardew, he took him.

"He's done a fantastic job, what a strike rate he's got. He's probably the most in-form striker anywhere at the moment.

"They say there's a release clause in his contract, that's what we all hear.

"He's certainly done well and it will be interesting to see what happens there, but at the moment he's doing great things for Newcastle.

"He's off to play in the Africa Cup of Nations now, so he's going to be away for a month or so, so that's a difficult one.

"At the moment, Newcastle have got him and I'm sure Alan wants to keep him. He'd be disappointed if he had to lose him. He would be difficult to replace."

Meanwhile, Alan Pardew has expressed how beneficial a good cup run could be for Newcastle, insisting he does not want a repeat of last season's shock defeat at the hands of Stevenage.

The Magpies were dumped out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle by the then League Two side a year ago, but Pardew is keen to avoid the same outcome when Blackburn Rovers visit St James' Park.

With Newcastle sitting seventh in the Premier League table on the back of a 3-0 demolition of champions Manchester United, the Magpies boss believes his side should regard themselves as serious contenders to lift the FA Cup.

Pardew has great memories of the competition himself, having reached the final with Crystal Palace as a player and with West Ham United as manager and he hopes his enthusiasm and experience will rub off on the Magpies squad.

"I take it seriously because it has been a great for me," Pardew said.

"I haven't won it, but as a lesser team (Palace) we were seven minutes from winning it and West Ham did brilliantly to get to the final and we almost won it.

"I think in terms of the teams in the country right now, we have a chance of winning it."