Newcastle United are close to completing the signing of England goalkeeper Nick Pope, reports Luke Edwards of The Telegraph.
Pope is currently at Burnley, but following their relegation to the Championship, many of their star players have been on the lookout for new clubs.
Edwards states that the deal to sign Pope is more advanced than the Magpies’ other two ongoing negotiations in Hugo Ekitike and Sven Botman.
Newcastle Closing in on Nick Pope Signing
A Challenger for Dubravka
Even in some of Newcastle’s most challenging periods over the last few years, goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has been a standout player.
He has held down the number one spot since his arrival from Sparta Prague in 2018 and has had little challenge from back-ups Karl Darlow and Mark Gillespie.
The addition of Pope would provide some quality competition for the Slovakian and give Pope the chance to feature in the Premier League again – an important factor as he aims to retain his place in the England squad ahead of the World Cup at the end of the year.
It’s thought that the fee for the Burnley stopper will be between £8-10 million and the Clarets are eager to sell in order to fund their push back to the Premier League.
Further Deals
Newcastle are still trying to bring in both Ekitike and Botman but are experiencing delays.
Edwards’ report says that Lille are refusing to lower their price for Botman from £37 million – a fee that AC Milan have also refused to match in their attempts to sign the defender.
Ekitike, meanwhile, has gone on holiday and there has been no contact between Newcastle and his representatives, although a fee has been agreed with Reims.
Burnley, meanwhile, are reported to have put in a £4 million bid for MK Dons midfielder Scott Twine.
Alan Nixon reported on his Patreon that the Clarets have put in a bid, but they also face competition from fellow Championship side Hull City.
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