Second summer signing for Newcastle United inbound as 27-year-old England star travels to South Korea for medical

Newcastle United are within touching distance of their second summer signing after agreeing a loan deal for Southampton stopper Aaron Ramsdale.

This last week, Newcastle missed out on priority goalkeeper target James Trafford after Manchester City activated their option to buy him back from Burnley.

It comes after Newcastle once again stalled on a deal, trying to haggle for a better price rather than just getting the job done. If Newcastle had got the deal done in the opening weeks of the window, Manchester City wouldn't have batted an eye; it was only after Ederson and Stefan Ortega's futures became uncertain that Pep Guardiola made a move.

Thankfully, the Magpies didn't waste much time when it came to signing Aaron Ramsdale. In fact, the speed at which this deal was done has us even more furious, as it's clear that we can move quickly when we want to.

Aaron Ramsdale is heading to South Korea for his medical

It emerged last night that Newcastle and Southampton had agreed the details of a season long loan with an option to buy as Eddie Howe looks set to sign Ramsdale for the second time in his career. Hopefully, this goes better than the last player he signed for the second time - Lloyd Kelly - although that one worked out okay in the end.

Ramsdale has been linked with a move to Newcastle for years, with the Magpies thought to be interested before he left Arsenal for the Saints.

The Chronicle has this morning reported that Ramsdale will jet out to South Korea and do his medical out there, and should he pass that, he'll become the sixth goalkeeper in the squad out there along with Nick Pope, Martin Dubravka (who we believe has flown out there now), John Ruddy, Max Thompson and Mark Gillespie.

Ramsdale and Pope will be a good battle for the No 1 spot

The Ramsdale deal will likely signal the end of Martin Dubravka's time with Newcastle, with the Slovakian having been heading for the exit for a while now.

Many Newcastle fans are underwhelmed by the signing of Ramsdale, but I'm not one of them. He's far better with his feet than Nick Pop,e which is what we've been crying out for. Pope is probably a better shot stopper, however, so the competition for that starting place is going to be interesting.

Newcastle are just a couple of hours away from being back in action as they take on Team K-League at Midday, so we'll see how many goalkeepers are on Eddie Howe's bench today.