Journalist Jacque Talbot has claimed that he would take Nick Pope over David de Gea at Newcastle United.
Pope, who has enjoyed a stunning start to the season as a Newcastle player by keeping three clean sheets in seven appearances, recently earned an England call-up and picked up another cap against Italy on Friday.
The England international currently boasts the third-best clean sheet percentage in the league and the third-best save percentage out of any goalkeeper in the Premier League (FBref), and Talbot has gone a step further by claiming he wouldn’t even take Manchester United’s De Gea over the 6ft 6in shot-stopper.
Talbot has been speaking on his YouTube channel about Pope and how little he rates De Gea in comparison.
“He’s [De Gea] just like Martin Dubravka – he’s had some worldies, but he’s past it now, he’s not the sort of football player that Ten Hag and Man United need.
Who has been better for Newcastle?
Pope!
Dubravka!
“If Newcastle bought David de Gea, hands on heart, I’d rather have Nick Pope in goal.”
TIF Thoughts on Nick Pope…
At the time, Newcastle signing Pope didn’t seem like a recruit that was desperately needed on Tyneside, with Martin Dubravka being the club’s No 1 for several years since he joined in 2018.
However, it only goes to show how great of a signing it proved to be, with Pope thriving at St James’ Park, while Dubravka is now simply warming the bench at Old Trafford and unlikely to cause any trouble for De Gea this season.
Signing Pope for just £10m was one of the bargains of the summer as he looked to jump ship from relegated Burnley, but to now being touted as better than David de Gea – someone who former boss Ralf Rangnick labelled as ‘one of the best goalkeepers in the world‘ – is some feat.