Chris Waugh has been speaking on Pod on the Tyne about Eddie Howe’s frustration over Martin Dubravka’s imminent Newcastle United departure.
Newcastle have seemingly struggled to move on players this summer, with their only exits thus far being Jeff Hendrick, Dwight Gayle, Freddie Woodman, Ciaran Clark and Isaac Hayden – with only Woodman bringing in any sort of transfer fee.
One more outgoing appears to be close to completion, according to Fabrizio Romano, as Dubravka, who’s been with the Magpies since 2018, is said to be on his way to Manchester United for the rest of the season.
But despite having Nick Pope as the club’s new No 1, Waugh believes Howe is frustrated to see Dubravka leave, with the Slovakian since completing a medical at Old Trafford.
Speaking while the clubs were still in negotiations, he said: “I think Howe is a little bit frustrated by the whole situation.
Will Newcastle regret losing Dubravka?
Yes!
No!
“He keeps saying ‘it’s not my decision’ and he keeps saying ‘I would prefer not to lose any players’, which seems a little bit unrealistic given that he has four senior ‘keepers and has too many players, so he really does need to move one of them on, but I think he would prefer if it wasn’t Dubravka, really, given the experience that he has.”
TIF Thoughts on Dubravka’s departure…
It’s an interesting situation, as Dubravka has seemingly not fancied sitting on the bench at Newcastle, however, it appears very unlikely he will dislodge David de Gea as the Red Devils’ No 1.
Therefore, it does seem like a very much sideways move in Dubravka’s career, and the deal isn’t even said to have an obligation to buy next summer, so Man United could use him as a stopgap and then Dubravka would be back to No 2 on Tyneside this time next year.
The Slovakian international still has a contract at Newcastle which runs until 2025, so if he was to be sold to anyone apart from Man United, who have an option to buy, the Magpies could likely demand a high fee for an international shot-stopper who’s very much Premier League-proven.