Journalist Keith Downie has highlighted the fact that rumours of goalkeepers moving to Newcastle United may be an indication of an impending exit for Martin Dubravka.
Newcastle have been linked with Premier League ‘keepers Dean Henderson and Bernd Leno ahead of the summer transfer window, and if either of them did make the move to St James’ Park, they could be expected to fill the No 1 spot at the club.
Dubravka remained the Magpies No 1 since Eddie Howe was introduced as manager, and featured in all of the games at the start of the calendar year as the side went eight games unbeaten, but his future remains unclear with the speculation of ‘keepers joining the club.
With the potential transfer of Leno or Henderson joining Newcastle, Downie claimed to GiveMeSport that he was unsure what the future of Dubravka would be at the club.
He said: “It’s interesting, because it kind of begs the question, does Eddie Howe see Dubravka as his number one moving forward?
“He’s obviously played every game and he’s a very good goalkeeper, but the fact there was interest in [Dean] Henderson in January and the name of [Bernd] Leno has been mooted around makes you think, they have been looking at the goalkeeping situation, although whether that’s as a number one or number two, I’m unsure.”
TIF Thoughts on Keith Downie’s comments…
Dubravka has done well for Newcastle this season, he has kept seven clean sheets in a side that has struggled for the majority of the campaign, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for him and a career at the club.
With the newfound wealth at Newcastle, they will likely look to bring in a new haul of players in the summer. So even though Dubravka may not have done anything wrong, Howe may be thinking that he can bring in a player who has greater experience at the top level to take the club to the next step.