Newcastle United is such a strange club at times. Under Eddie Howe there seems to be a very strong aversion to letting players leave.
Eddie Howe's basement recently had an escapee with Miguel Almiron finding freedom and fleeing to the USA to rejoin Atlanta United.
In his stead, it seems that Martin Dubravka is know shackled to pipework down there after almost escaping to Saudi Arabia this month.
We absolutely understand why Eddie Howe was reluctant to let the Slovakian leave this month. He was the first-choice 'keeper in the absence of Nick Pope and was doing a good job of it, too, to the point where he's kept his place despite Pope's return to fitness.
Speaking to the media on Friday morning ahead of Saturday's clash with Fulham (via The Chronicle), Eddie Howe confirmed that they are talking to Dubravka over a new deal.
"We’re in discussions with Martin about a new contract. Hopefully there’ll be a swift conclusion there. He’s not sought any certainties on his place beyond trying to stay in the team and do well."
Newcastle are expected to sign another goalkeeper in the summer with Burnley's James Trafford seen as the most likely arrival, but Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher is also a possibility, so do we need to keep 36-year-old Dubravka beyond this season?
John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos only signed one-year contracts when they joined in the summer and Mark Gillespie's contract is also set to expire in the summer, so if all three leave the club, then yes, retaining Dubravka makes perfect sense.
Newcastle's bizarre goalkeeper situation has lived rent-free in my head since the summer. I've never understood why we needed five of them. I get why we paid £20 million for Odysseas Vlachodimos despite nobody wanting him at the club, but just makes me even more mad about PSR than anything else.
Hopefully, it'll be a much clearer picture come the start of next season with a normal amount of goalkeepers.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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23 | 35 | 56 |
2 |
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24 | 27 | 50 |
3 |
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24 | 13 | 47 |
4 |
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24 | 16 | 43 |
5 |
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24 | 13 | 41 |
6 |
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24 | 13 | 41 |
7 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 40 |
8 |
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24 | -3 | 37 |
9 |
![]() |
24 | 4 | 36 |
10 |
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24 | -3 | 34 |
11 |
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24 | 0 | 31 |
12 |
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24 | -2 | 30 |
13 |
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24 | -6 | 29 |
14 |
![]() |
24 | 11 | 27 |
15 |
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24 | -17 | 27 |
16 |
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23 | -5 | 26 |
17 |
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24 | -18 | 19 |
18 |
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24 | -28 | 17 |
19 |
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24 | -27 | 16 |
20 |
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24 | -36 | 9 |