Newcastle United are looking to finally end their search for a new goalkeeper in the summer after failing to do so for the last two years.
James Trafford twice slipped through the Geordies’ fingers, but the Magpies are expected to try again for the young England goalkeeper in the summer after his return to Manchester City quickly turned sour.
Aaron Ramsdale came in on loan last year to challenge Nick Pope for the first-choice spot, and while he did that, he didn’t do enough to convince the club to keep him on beyond his loan spell, so Ramsdale will return to Southampton at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Nick Pope can’t seem to stop dropping clangers. Regardless of whether the opposition is punishing us for them or not, they’re still worrying moments that we could all live without.
Newcastle have made a goalkeeper a top priority
The Telegraph has claimed that signing a new goalkeeper will be the first priority heading into the summer transfer window.
According to Luke Edwards’ report, Newcastle has a main three-man shortlist, but there are others they could look at should they fail to land any of their primary targets.
James Trafford remains the ‘early favourite’ to arrive, but Newcastle also have strong interest in Robin Risser from Lens and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen.
Not names that should be new to anybody, but that’s a good thing. The consistency in the reporting suggests there’s truth to these stories, and it seems we aren’t putting all of our eggs in one basket.
We have our priority order
Each one presents a different complication for Newcastle, however. We’ve already missed out on Trafford twice, and his wages are thought to be north of £100,000-a-week, which could be an issue for Newcastle. Also, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Tottenham are also keen, according to Edwards.
Bart Verbruggen isn’t likely to be an easy acquisition, given Brighton’s notoriously tough negotiating stance. Newcastle would likely have to fork out a fee in excess of £40-45 million to land the 23-year-old.
Robin Risser would no doubt be the cheapest of the three top options, but at just 21 and having never played in the Premier League, he also presents the highest risk. However, he has been identified as a future France No.1, so there’s a lot of faith in him in his home country.
If it were down to us, we’d prioritise James Trafford because we know just how good he is, but if we fail with him, we should take the risk on Robin Risser as he seems like a very exciting prospect who could be more cost-effective. We like Bart Verbruggen, but Brighton will demand big money.