Transfer Deadline Day: Newcastle United in Search for New Defender?

Though it earned them qualification to the Europa League group stages, Thursday's win over Atromitos also brought some bad news for Newcastle United on the injury front.

Versatile right-back Ryan Taylor suffered what looked to be a bad injury to his right knee. As we enter transfer deadline day, this could force Newcastle's hand to find a replacement.

Manager Alan Pardew had the following to say about the situation (via the BBC):

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"It looks like Ryan Taylor has picked up a bad knock, and I might now have to speak to the chairman because we might need to bring someone in on the back of that. Let's hope it's not as bad as we fear."

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Ironically, Newcastle's sudden need for a new signing late in the transfer window comes just days after Pardew had called for the window to close earlier, according to The Sun.

Newcastle had been linked with a number of defenders over the course of the summer already. They had slowed down their pursuit after picking up midfielder Vurnon Anita from Ajax, who is capable of playing at fullback as well.

If Taylor's injury is as bad as it looked, Newcastle would be wise to rekindle some of those old negotiations and step up their chase for the likes of Mathieu Debuchy, Douglas and maybe even Erik Pieters.

In Debuchy's case, the Magpies made a final bid of £6 million for the defender last week (according to MailOnline), after having two previous bids rejected by Lille.

This injury news, as well as reports from ESPN of Real Madrid interest in Debuchy, could be just enough to convince Newcastle to raise their bid once more and finally get a deal done for the French international.