Sam Allardyce has admitted he is struggling to compete
with Chelsea in the transfer market.
The Newcastle manager is looking to bring in a number of new
players before the start of the season and has the backing of
billionaire owner Mike Ashley.
But he concedes his efforts have been thwarted by Chelsea, who won
the chase for both Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim.
As well as their spending power, Allardyce believes players are
lured to Chelsea by the prospect of living in the capital and being
involved in the UEFA Champions League.
"You try all you can and use all the weight behind you to persuade
players to come to you," he told the News of the World.
"But when you are competing with Chelsea it makes life extremely
difficult, even for Newcastle.
"There are the lures of London, Champions League football and the
fact they play 56 to 60 games a year.
"Any player there can play 25 to 30 matches because of their huge
fixture list every year, so it is hard."
