Newcastle Manager Pardew Reveals Which Summer Business Bettered Arsenal Signing Ozil

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew insists the club's retention of Yohan Cabaye has proved more influential this season than Arsenal's summer deadline day signing of Mesut Ozil.

Ozil joined from Real Madrid in September and has scored four goals and made seven assists to help the Gunners rise to the summit of the Premier League as the season approaches the half-way point.

The German moved to Arsenal after Arsene Wenger failed in a bid for Cabaye – who netted his fifth Newcastle goal of the campaign against Stoke City on Boxing Day - earlier in the summer.

And Pardew believes that despite the success of Arsenal's £42m signing, Newcastle have got the better end of the deal.

"It's not strange Arsenal were interested in Yohan, but in the end they went with Özil," said Pardew.

"That's been particularly good business for them, but I think the better piece of business was us keeping Yohan Cabaye.

"We don't want to sell him, of course we don't," added Pardew.

"He is the main man here and he's got the platform to be the main man at a big club and you don't get always get that. He should savour that and take it all the way to the World Cup and beyond."

After a seventh win in nine games over Stoke, Newcastle have grand designs on launching a bid to qualify for the Champions League in 2014, a bid which would be enhanced should they end the current year with victory over Arsenal on Sunday.

Arsenal returned to the top after defeating West Ham United on Thursday but are just six points ahead of Newcastle despite the two sides' contrasting summer transfer window fortunes which saw Pardew's side fail to make a permanent signing.

"I'd like to think that we'll run them close, and if we can beat them then we'll have to seriously look at our aspirations for the year," Pardew stated.

"It will certainly tell us a lot about how good we are. If you can beat one of the top teams like Arsenal, it's really going to put us in good shape at the top of the league. It would tick a big box for us."