Newcastle United could now potentially be propelled into the January transfer window with a midfielder possibly on Dan Ashworth's radar after Sunday's victory.

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Eddie Howe's men boosted their hopes of a spot in the Champions League for next season with a big win at home against the in-form Fulham.

However, the celebrations on Tyneside will be tainted by the injury concerns over their star midfielder, Bruno Guimaraes, who was replaced at half-time.

The scenes after the match will not have provided the Toon Army with much optimism as the Brazilian was seen leaving the stadium wearing a protective boot and being supported by crutches.

And this has seen journalist Craig Hope speak on his YouTube channel about the possibility of this injury seeing Newcastle enter the market for a midfield backup:

"That perhaps might just give Eddie the case he needs to go and knock upstairs and you know look for midfield reinforcement especially given they were already light in that area without injuries. So as that's one little newsy item to emerge from the press conference there."

Backup for Bruno

The pictures during the game certainly showed the emotions of the Newcastle midfielder who was seen leaving the pitch at half time as he fought back the tears.

Speaking after the game, Howe has claimed the midfielder will go for a scan on Monday to find out the severity of the injury sustained against the Cottagers.

And perhaps that will be the determining factor as to whether the Magpies go into the market to strengthen their midfield options.

In the small sample size without Guimaraes, the Toon's form was not the best with just two points taken from a possible nine (via Transfermarkt).

On top of this, Howe's midfield options are already sparse with the likes of Jonjo Shelvey also sat on the sidelines through a long-term injury issue.

So with that in mind, if Guimaraes is to be sidelined for a number of weeks or even months, it could become a priority for Newcastle to provide Howe with some backup in midfield.

As well as Guimaraes' potential absence leaving Howe short in midfield options, it will also leave Newcastle without a player who has shown huge quality since making the move to Tyneside.

Newcastle have been linked with Youri Tielemans for a number of months now, so it will be interesting to see if this is an opportunity Newcastle could look to take up this month.

The Belgian now has just a matter of months left on his deal with Leicester City so he could prove a cheap option this month with Brendan Rodgers believed to be wanting a number of players gone this month.