It appears that Newcastle United’s goalkeeping staff will be changing this summer.
Although Mark Gillespie recently signed a new deal, Loris Karius has already left Newcastle, so it would be shocking to see him start playing regularly at the first team level all of a sudden.
While Nick Pope wants to stay at St James’ Park, it’s not as if he was always fully convincing last season. Broadly, he’s been excellent of course but there were some iffy performances that should be noted without suggesting Pope has not been a brilliant signing.
Wherever you stand him on him, there are doubts about his ability on the ball – as was evident in the post-season friendly win over Tottenham, albeit that was a game that did not exactly matter.
Indeed, the relative doubts do explain moves for a new goalkeeper. James Trafford is said to have been the subject of a £16m bid, while Aaron Ramsdale has been linked.
Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili is another reported target, while Martin Dubravka could leave.
Hailed as “wonderful” by Alan Shearer for his performance against Blackburn in the FA Cup, it was not all plain sailing for the veteran last season.
Dubravka did not always cover himself in glory and will reportedly be allowed to leave this summer.
Martin Dubravka is now attracting more and more transfer interest
The 35-year-old has been connected to a move to Saudi Arabia, but according to The Chronicle, there may be interest in Europe instead.
The Slovakian international is reportedly attracting interest from Bundesliga teams, but he will make a decision about his future following next month’s end of Euro 2024.
Selling Martin Dubravka would help Newcastle achieve their goal
While Dubravka is unlikely to command a particularly huge fee given his age and the fact he’s got a year left on his contract, every little helps.
It is believed that Newcastle wants to sell players for between £30 million and £50 million this summer.
Dubravka can at least somewhat mitigate that by signing a permanent contract to leave.
