It could be an old story re-hashed ... but it is no secret Chelsea have watched Tiote ever since he made his debut for Newcastle last season.
The Ivorian enforcer has impressed (even more) this year since signing from Dutch side FC Twente for £3.5 and Chelsea are said to be ready with an offer.
Alan Pardew has warned that though he is open to offers, Tiote and his other players won’t come cheap.
We still haven't seen the £35m Liverpool paid for Andy Carroll ... what with the sale of players balancing the ones that arrived.
Officially that money is still available, although a blind man on a galloping horse can see it's gone straight into Ashley's arse pocket.
That will disappear from the club accounts, I can guarantee!
So what about others leaving?
As well as Tiote, there are many with a re-sale value - Fabricio Coloccini, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jonas Gutierrez, Tim Krul, Steven Taylor and Yohan Cabaye.
Alan Pardew: “It is going to cost a hell of a lot of money, a hell of a lot of money because we’re in that position now.
“I think any of our players that get linked to other clubs, those clubs are going to need to know they’ll need to pay a shed load of money to get anyone out of this football club.”
“But if a club, one of the top clubs, comes in and wants to pay way, way over the odds we’ll have to look at it.”