Saturday 4 August 2018 21:05, UK
Andros Townsend has no intention of moving to Newcastle or anywhere else after declaring he wants to stay at Crystal Palace "for many years".
Newcastle hold a long-standing interest in bringing Townsend back to St James' Park, where he spent six months before Palace activated a release clause in his contract following Newcastle's relegation from the Premier League in 2016.
The Magpies seemed to be prepared to move Matt Ritchie on in order to make way for Townsend's return but Newcastle's hopes of signing the 13-cap England international now appear to be over.
Asked whether he sees himself as a player in the long-term, Townsend told Sky Sports News: "I have got three years left on my contract. The club want me here, the fans want me here, I want to be here, so for me there is nothing to it [speculation linking him with a return to Newcastle].
"There is always gossip surrounding myself every summer but I don't really pay much attention to it. I'm happy here and hopefully I can be here for many years."
Wilfried Zaha's future has also been the subject of plenty of speculation this summer and Townsend insists it is vital Palace retain the services of the Ivory Coast international this season.
"Wilf's a special player," Townsend said after Palace's pre-season friendly with Ligue 1 side Toulouse at Selhurst Park.
"Of course we'd love to keep him. You could see with what he did today, how good he is, how important to us he is and hopefully he stays with us."
Palace came from behind to beat Toulouse 4-1, with Zaha rounding off the win after goals from Christian Benteke, Jeffrey Schlupp and Luka Milivojevic.
Townsend added: "We couldn't ask for anymore. We had a good victory last week against Reading. We knew it would be a step up in class today and the first 25 minutes I think we were second best.
"But once we got going, once we got our game together, we were deserved winners and it was the perfect preparation for the start of the season [away at Fulham] on Saturday."
