30-year-old Newcastle man backed to make positive impact next season by former PL manager

Newcastle United have made a couple of surprise signings so far this summer with two goalkeeper arriving at the club seemingly out of nowhere.

Eddie Howe acted fast to pick up veteran stopper John Ruddy after his Birmingham City contract expired, while former Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos came the other way as Nottingham Forest signed Elliot Anderson.

After being linked with Giorgi Mamardashvili and then James Trafford earlier in the summer, these signings seemed vastly underwhelming, and while we still find both additions a bit odd, one man has tried to put Geordie minds at ease.

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Bruno Lage has worked with both 'keepers, and while we feel we understand John Ruddy's role, the fact that Vlachodimos now looks to be our number two has many fans worried, but Bruno Lage has moved to put our minds at ease.

Bruno Lage has praised Odysseas Vlachodimos

The Chronicle reached out to Lage for comments on the signings and he was highly complimentary of both players, but he reiterated that Vlachodimos' season at Nottingham Forest was more an outlier than the norm.

"Ody is a calm guy. That's the kind of player and man you want in your team. A good professional, a top player and a family guy. I never saw him complaining. I never saw any team-mates talking about him in a negative way.

They also reached out to someone who worked with Vlachodimos at Benfica they were extremely complimentary.

"He's 30 years old. He's a Greece national team player. He has the experience with many appearances in the Champions League, which is a very good level.

"I know the Premier League is the equivalent of playing the Champions League every weekend. It's not like the Portuguese league, but I think he's ready. Newcastle have good goalkeepers. It's not easy for Ody, but he's fit for that."

Nick Pope will be Newcastle's Number 1

At the end of the day, it will be Nick Pope who will be the number one regardless, and if he can stay fit, then we may never see Vlachodimos in action.

While it is a worry that Nottingham Forest were so quick to replace him, it's also worth noting that the man they replaced him with, Matz Sels, was a disaster at Newcastle, but he is a Belgian international and also did a decent job for Forest in the Premier League.

Just because a player had a bad spell at one club, doesn't mean they're necessarily a bad player. We should at least give him a shot before we write him off completely.