Chris Waugh has now rubbished claims of £20m Newcastle United deal having been reached as 'premature'

Newcastle United are expected to be very active in the summer transfer window with many positions in desperate need of reinforcements.

One area of Newcastle's squad that is due for a drastic overhaul is that of the goalkeeper. Nick Pope remains number one, although Martin Dubravka has certainly made a good case for himself in Pope's absence. Indeed, after Pope returned to the fold on Sunday, there were those who were wishing the Slovakian was still in Howe's plans.

And while Dubravka has just signed a new deal at the club, his future is far from rock solid. Neither is that of Pope himself who has failed to hit the heights of his first season at the club since.

Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy are both out of contract in the summer, and the less said about Odysseas Vlachodimos, the better.

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Newcastle are still looking at Trafford, Kelleher and Ramsdale

The Daily Mail had recently claimed that a move for Burnley's James Trafford was essentially sewn up and the £20 million-rated stopper would be a Newcastle United player come the summer.

However, in his weekly Q&A with the Newcastle fans, The Athletic's Chris Waugh has claimed that no such deal is in place yet and other options remain on the table.

"Newcastle’s long-standing interest in Burnley’s Trafford remains, and while claims that a deal has already been agreed are premature, the club continue to monitor his situation closely. [Aaron] Ramsdale is well known to Howe and Newcastle’s recruitment team, but whether they will revive interest once Southampton are relegated is unclear. Liverpool’s [Caoimhin] Kelleher is rated by some at the club but there are also goalkeepers Newcastle have been tracking beyond that trio, some of who play outside of England."

Caoimhin Kelleher would be the obvious choice for us

If it was a simple case of picking one of the three aforementioned goalkeepers, then Kelleher seems like the best option. He's had plenty of big game experience for Liverpool and many people have said that if it was anyone else but Alisson going for the first-team spot he'd be first-choice at Liverpool.

James Trafford is a top goalkeeper, having already been called up for England, but at 22, he's a baby in goalkeeping terms and whether he's ready to shoulder the responsibility of a first-choice 'keeper for a Champions League-chasing Premier League club, we're not sure. He will be, for sure, but is it too soon for him?

Then again, can we really be relying on Nick Pope's dodgy feet and Martin Dubravka's ageing legs for much longer?