Potential bad news for Newcastle as £34m target hints at staying put this summer on social media

Newcastle United are in the market for at least one goalkeeper this summer with Loris Karius set to depart the club when his contract expires.

It's also believed that Martin Dubravka's time at St James' Park could be coming to an end which would leave Eddie Howe needing to find two replacement 'keepers, or simply bump up Mark Gillespie to third choice.

With Nick Pope having missed a huge chunk of this/last (when's the cut-off?) season through injury, it's understood that Howe wants another goalkeeper who is going to push Pope for that number one spot which is why Aaron Ramsdale's name keeps popping up.

However, there's a reluctance to buy from Arsenal and increase their spending power in the summer with our aim to close the gap, which is why Valencia's Giorgi Mamardashvili is said to be the number one target.

gmamardashvili25/Instagram

Is Giorgi Mamardashvili staying at Valencia?

Newcastle have been tracking the Georgian international for a while and it has been rumoured that a £34million deal is close for the stopper to move to Tyneside.

However, this morning Mamarda posted to his Instagram suggesting that he may not be as close to a move away from Valencia as we all thought. After making his 100th appearance for Valencia, he posted this:

"Hit 100 games in this shirt yesterday and I couldn't be more proud. Defending this shield for these 3 years has been an honor and a privilege. Every minute on the field, every workout, and every challenge has been worth it. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped me get here: teammates, coaches, and of course the fans. This is just the beginning, let's go for more!
UP ALL THE WAY!"

We're not reading too much into it

It's a cause for concern for Newcastle, although players post things like this all the time and then end up moving anyway. Sometimes it's out of their hands but mostly it's because to them, it's a job, and if someone offers you more money to do the same job, chances are you're going to take it.

The summer transfer window hasn't even opened yet so there's plenty of time for this one to play out, so we're not pushing that big red panic button just yet.

Who knows? He could just be the smokescreen the club has thrown up while they work on a deal for Aaron Ramsdale. You know how we operate these days.