Lille defender Mathieu Debuchy will undergo a medical ahead of a move to Newcastle United, according to manager Alan Pardew.
The Magpies have been known admirers of the French international for a number of months and tried to sign the 27-year-old in the summer.
The Toon Army slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Everton on Wednesday night, and Pardew insists that Debuchy will provide a welcome boost to the squad.
"That deal is going to come down to the medical because I hear discussions have gone well on the finance side," Pardew said of Debuchy, who was in the St James' Park crowd during the game.
"If it's passed he will improve us considerably. He's an experienced player with great quality. He might have made a difference tonight. It's obviously we're missing one or two big players and probably Everton edged it in terms of experience and quality on the pitch.
"We need some new bodies in, we need some bodies out of the treatment room and we need to get our best side back on the pitch because we won't hide form the fact that we are right in it now and we have got to get out of it."
Newcastle travel to Brighton & Hove Albion in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Matt Cotton
