Alan Pardew has emphasised the importance of bringing in a replacement for the Chelsea-bound Demba Ba.

Ba is expected to be unveiled at Stamford Bridge in the next 24 hours after the Blues activated a £7.5m release clause in the striker’s contract at Newcastle.

And the club’s focus is now on replacing the Senegalese hotshot, with Olympic Marseille forward Loic Remy on Pardew’s shopping list.

“He’s scored goals, but it’s done now,” Toon boss Pardew told the Jarrow and Hebburn Gazette.

“He’s moved now, and hopefully we’ll have a new hero emerge. I’m sure we will. That’s my next agenda, for sure.

“We’ve got the FA Cup game (against Brighton). We’ve got Norwich in a week’s time – that’s a massive game for us. I’d like to think we’ll be stronger than we were (against Everton).

“We’ve got to get one or two (signings) in.”

Newcastle themselves took advantage of a clause in Ba’s West Ham United contract to sign him on a free transfer in the summer of 2011.

But the Magpies, in turn, were constrained to agree to a release clause in his deal at St James’ Park.

“The clause was there, and it made sense at the time,” Pardew insisted. “It made logical sense because of the history of his leg, and everything else.

“The bottom line is that that clause was never something we could control.

“Two years ago, when he came from West Ham, there weren’t too many queuing up.

“We took a chance on him, and the chance has actually worked out better for him, but it’s still worked out well for us."

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