Nick Pope’s dislocated shoulder, four minutes from the end of Newcastle United’s win vs Manchester United, was a catalyst for Eddie Howe’s season imploding. Pope was replaced by Martin Dubravka, a Slovakian international and one of the rare success stories to emerge from Mike Ashley’s reign of austerity on Tyneside.
Identified by Rafa Benitez during the 2018 January transfer window, Dubravka arrived quietly on deadline day as a largely unknown quantity, signing on loan for €500k with an option to buy for an extra €4.5m.
His impact was almost immediate. He started his first game 11 days after arriving, a big game live on TV at home to Manchester United. Newcastle hadn’t won a home game since October, but they beat Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United 1-0 that day and Dubravka was man of the match.
For the next four-and-a-half-seasons, the No.1 shirt was his but when Nick Pope arrived in the summer of 2022 things changed. Dubravka’s role defaulted to No.2 which he was naturally unhappy about, believing he could still be a No.1 at the top level.
An unsuccessful loan spell at Manchester United didn’t satisfy his need for match minutes last season but by summer 2023 Newcastle United were a different animal. Now in the Champions League, with a desire to go deep in all the domestic cup competitions, Dubraka appeared relatively content to wait, with no better options on the table, for an opportunity to contribute to the potential success of the club that was now unrecognisable from the one he joined six years ago.
That chance came in December when Pope’s shoulder injury paved the way for five months of potential game time. But Dubravka, now aged 34, like Newcastle United is a different proposition as a player in 2023/24.
In the eight games that supervened Pope’s injury Newcastle conceded 18 goals. Though Dubravka can’t be blamed entirely for that, he was undoubtedly at fault for a number of them, including two penalties he gave away, as the wheels fell off Newcastle’s season and the absence of Pope was felt.
It should be noted that Dubravka had an excellent game in one of Newcastle’s biggest matches of the season, and one of their biggest in recent seasons. During the Wear-Tyne derby he also made a small number of crucial saves having had largely nothing to do - the holy grail for top level keepers.
Sadly for Dubravka, I don’t think his performance at the Stadium of Light will be enough to stop Eddie Howe exploring goalkeeping options this month.
FourFourTwo understands Newcastle will pursue a move for Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone this month. During his press conference before the Manchester City game Eddie Howe told media, “I think there's value in the loan market, but I’m not sure there is for us. We’re in a moment where I don’t think we have many friends in the market. I’m not sure anyone wants to help us out.”
But a move for Johnstone makes sense on both sides of the deal. Curiously, Johnstone signed a new contract extension with Crystal Palace in November, reported earning £40,000 per week.
What made the extension more interesting was that Crystal Palace had signed Dean Henderson permanently from Manchester United at the end of the summer for a sizable, undisclosed fee believed to be around £15m, plus £5m in add-ons.
Henderson is believed to be one of the highest earners at Crystal Palace and four years younger than Johnstone. Extending Johnstone’s contract in November feels like a sensible move on Palace’s part to protect an asset.
But long term it doesn’t feel sustainable to have two goalkeepers with England ambitions taking up around £150k of the weekly wage bill. A potential Johnstone transfer this month may have been sped up by recent events.
In December he picked up a semi-serious calf injury that ruled him out of all of Palace’s festive games, and at the time of writing he is still on the treatment table but expected to be back before Deadline Day.
My information is that Newcastle’s interest is real, but would Crystal Palace be one of the few “friends” Eddie Howe believes he can rely on to “help us out” in January? I think yes, though recent news about Newcastle’s financial situation could mean only a loan deal would be an option.
Complicating matters is the fact Newcastle only have one domestic loan move left, having signed Lewis Hall on loan from Chelsea with an option to buy in the summer for £30m. Transfermarkt value the Crystal Palace goalkeeper at €12m, but that number will probably be closer to €20m when you add the January premium and Newcastle's demand for goalkeeping reinforcements.
If Newcastle could secure Kalvin Philips on loan from Manchester City (a deal they definitely can't afford to do permanently this month), perhaps some rummaging down the back of the sofa will be required for Johnstone. But does Eddie Howe want two goalkeepers with England ambitions, who are almost exactly the same age, on the books in the summer?
Johnstone has been in the last four England squads and played the full 90 minutes vs Australia in October, where he kept a clean sheet. Having lost his place at Palace to the younger, more expensive and equally keen to be in the England squad, Dean Henderson.
The minutes Johnstone needs to maintain his England squad position for Euro 2024 exist at Newcastle and from Crystal Palace’s point of view, Johnstone maintaining his value and potentially making the England squad along with Dean Henderson, would leave them in a strong position for the summer business.
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