Newcastle United have revived their interest in Olympique Marseille fullback Habib Beye.

The Journal says adding a right-back to a squad that has lost Stephen Carr for up to six weeks has become a must and manager Sam Allardyce is understood to have made a fresh attempt to sign Beye. Marseille have resisted Newcastle's attempts to sign their captain this summer and are understood to be reluctant to sanction the player's sale so close to Friday's transfer deadline.

"I've no definites yet but I'm working very hard to secure one or possibly two players before the transfer window shuts," said Allardyce, who is not expecting further departures this week. "Getting them in is a problem because managers don't want to sell players now. The quality of the player is very important to me. It's not about taking players for the sake of it, it's about getting the right quality to improve us."