Newcastle United currently have five first-team goalkeepers, all of whom were registered to play in the Premier League this season.
The Magpies added two stoppers to the ranks in the summer when ageing free-agent John Ruddy was brought in and Newcastle did a ridiculous £20 million deal with Nottingham Forest's Odysseas Vlachodimos as part of the deal which took Elliot Anderson the other way for £35 million, all in the name of avoiding PSR sanctions.
With Mark Gillespie already at the club, unable to find any game time behind Martin Dubravka and Nick Pope, it was a baffling situation to be in, but now, heading into the summer, we're no clearer on whose future is at the club and whose is elsewhere.
Newcastle have been strongly linked with a move for Burnley's James Trafford, which will put Nick Pope's position as No.1 in jeopardy, with the 33-year-old being linked with a move away from the club as direct effect of dropping down the pecking order.
Leeds United seem very keen on signing Pope from Newcastle as their goalkeeping crisis isn't a case of needing to offload a surplus, more of not having one they can rely on.
However, Football Insider now insists that Nick Pope, who was signed from Burnley for £10 million, wants to stay at Newcastle United even if they do sign James Trafford, also from Burnley this summer.
Should Pope opt to stay, we expect that will signal the end of Martin Dubravka's journey at Newcastle after the Slovakian was begged to stay at the turn of the year and even signed a new deal, only to be dropped back to the bench when Pope returned to full fitness.
We have to bear in mind the source of this story, that being Football Insider and their famous 'sources' which never seem to have direct quotes, so take it with a hefty pinch of salt.
However, all five of Newcastle's goalkeepers are in positions that suggest a future away from the club, so surely we'd want at least one of them to stay, ideally two to go along with one new arrival.
Nick Pope and Mark Gillespie to stay, and the rest to move on, seems to be the most logical idea.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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38 | 45 | 84 |
2 |
![]() |
38 | 35 | 74 |
3 |
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38 | 28 | 71 |
4 |
![]() |
38 | 21 | 69 |
5 |
![]() |
38 | 21 | 66 |
6 |
![]() |
38 | 7 | 66 |
7 |
![]() |
38 | 12 | 65 |
8 |
![]() |
38 | 7 | 61 |
9 |
![]() |
38 | 12 | 56 |
10 |
![]() |
38 | 9 | 56 |
11 |
![]() |
38 | 0 | 54 |
12 |
![]() |
38 | 0 | 53 |
13 |
![]() |
38 | -2 | 48 |
14 |
![]() |
38 | -16 | 43 |
15 |
![]() |
38 | -10 | 42 |
16 |
![]() |
38 | -15 | 42 |
17 |
![]() |
38 | -1 | 38 |
18 |
![]() |
38 | -47 | 25 |
19 |
![]() |
38 | -46 | 22 |
20 |
![]() |
38 | -60 | 12 |