Ryan Taylor Injured vs. Atromitos – Replacement Needed?

It wasn't a particularly dominant performance, but Atromitos didn't cause too much trouble for Newcastle United, as the Toon qualified for the group stages of the Europa League.

But despite the win and the impressive performance from youngster Haris Vuckic, there was still some bad news to take from the game.

Ryan Taylor – the man Vuckic replaced in the 11th minute – suffered what looked like a pretty bad injury to his right knee, and there’s a chance he could be out for some time.

The right-back took a pretty bad fall in the early minutes and appeared to be in a lot of pain.

After the game, manager Alan Pardew had the following to say about the situation:

“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.”

If the injury is in fact as bad as Newcastle fear, Pardew will have only one day to find a replacement for Taylor, as the transfer deadline comes tomorrow.

Right-back has been a position that Newcastle have been looking to address all summer in the form of Mathieu Debuchy, and the news of Taylor’s injury could be enough to trigger them to raise their bid.

Lille have not been happy with the money Newcastle have been prepared to spend on the French international, and have told the club that their £6 million offer is simply not enough.

For a club that was prepared to spend around £14-20 million for Andy Carroll, it would make sense for Newcastle to throw in a little bit more cash for Debuchy, especially considering he plays at what is now a position of need.

If not Debuchy, there are plenty of other options for Newcastle if they decide a replacement is needed, but it will take a lot of work to bring one to St. James’ Park on some notice.

Erik Pieters is another who’s shown interest in Newcastle, and it may be easier to rekindle an old negotiation like that than to start a new one with only hours to work with.