The 22-year-old's agent met vice-president Tony Jimenez in London today to discuss a new deal for the defender, who rejected the five-year contract offered to him at the start of the season.

Since then there has been little progress, with no fresh offer having been put to highly-rated Taylor, despite assurances from chairman Chris Mort that he would address the situation.

The contract dispute dates back to an assurance given to Taylor by then chairman Freddy Shepherd when he signed his current deal that it would be renegotiated when he established himself in the first-team.

Taylor has gone on to make 120 appearances for the club he has supported all his life, but the contract put to him last year would still have left him one of the lowest earners at St James's Park.

For his part, Taylor has put the dispute to the back of his mind, but the concern is that the longer it drags on, the greater the danger of the England Under-21 captain becoming unsettled at United.

He now has just one year left, and from January next year he will be able to talk to other clubs, with Liverpool among the clubs monitoring his situation.

And his new representative – Leon Angel – will be keen to hear what Jimenez has to say at their meeting.