The 24-year-old central defender looked to heading out of the club he supported as a schoolboy when he was transfer-listed after failing to agree a new deal.

But with new boss Alan Pardew as keen to retain the services of one of the Magpies' most promising Academy graduates as his predecessor Chris Hughton had been, a compromise has been reached.

Taylor and his team-mates will head into a difficult Barclays Premier League trip to Tottenham tomorrow hoping to avoid the kind of costly errors which cost them so dearly against high-flying Manchester City yesterday.

But for the Greenwich-born, Tyneside-raised defender, the game will mark the beginning of another, and he hopes successful, chapter.

Taylor said: "I am absolutely delighted to have agreed terms with the club on a new long-term contract that will see me play for Newcastle United in my prime years.

"I joined the club as a boy and feel confident that I can fulfil all my professional ambitions here at my home-town club.

"Throughout the past few months, I have never lost hope that everything could be sorted and that I could stay here and play for this fantastic football club.

"I would like to thank the fans for their support throughout the contract negotiations and I'll look to repay them with my performances in the black and white shirt.

"Also [I would like to thank former boss] Chris Hughton for bringing me back into the team, Alan Pardew who made it clear from day one that he wanted me to stay at the club, the board and management for their willingness to work together to find an agreement and finally my agent Paul Stretford for always having my best interests at heart."

Taylor is the latest player to put pen to paper on a new deal with Andy Carroll, Mike Williamson and Nile Ranger all having committed their long-term futures to the club in recent months.

Pardew made Taylor's situation one of his first priorities and he was delighted to have resolved the situation.

He said: "I've always really admired Steven Taylor and I thought it was imperative that we kept him here.

"He's still young, he's a Geordie and he's a top defender.

"He's played a lot of games for somebody his age, played in Europe and captained his country at under-21 level, and that says everything you need to know about him.

"Steven is somebody who can be a bedrock of our defence for a long time to come, and it's great news that he's staying.

"I made it one of my priorities when I arrived. Steven is just the sort of player that we need to keep at this club."

Pardew has also had to send a warning shot across the bows of potential suitors for Carroll, whose goal against City in yesterday's 3-1 home defeat was his 11th of the season.

The 21-year-old has been linked with a move away from St James' Park this summer amid suggestions that Spurs boss Harry Redknapp could be ready to test the water next month with a £20million bid.

Pardew said: "I spoke to him [Carroll] briefly on Christmas Day and he has handled it very, very well.

"He understands he has got a lot of learning to do, but the most important thing is he wants to play for Newcastle."

Newcastle slipped to ninth place in the table as a result of yesterday's defeat as Spurs are fifth after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa despite having Jermain Defoe sent-off before the break.

The Magpies created their own problems by gifting City a 2-0 lead inside five disastrous minutes at St James', keeper Tim Krul's error allowing Gareth Barry to open the scoring before Carlos Tevez capitalised on some sub-standard defending to double the dose.

Carroll's 72nd-minute header amid a spirited fightback gave the Magpies hope, but Tevez's second, which took a double deflection, wrapped up the points.

However, while there was disappointment on Tyneside at the errors which proved so damaging, the manner of their response was encouraging ahead of the trip to North London, where they secured a surprise victory over Arsenal last month.

Taylor said: "If you don't believe you are going to win, what's the point of turning up?

"We believe we can beat any side in this Premier League and why not?"

Skipper Kevin Nolan is suspended after collecting his fifth booking of the season, while Shola Ameobi is likely to miss out with a hamstring injury once again.