Newcastle set for shake-up – England talent wanted and £20m man to reject January offers

He reports that our current pool of FIVE goalkeepers – Pope, Dubravka, Vlachodimos, Ruddy and Gillespie – does not feel sustainable under PSR rules and Burnley’s James Trafford is a player the club have ‘ongoing interest’ in following his recent call-up to the England squad.

It’s believed Odysseas Vlachodimos is determined to stay and fight for his place and hoping to ‘showcase’ his quality when England travel to Athens to face Greece in the UEFA Nations League.

Douglas adds that a January loan move is ‘not in his thinking’ and emerging interest from former club Panathinaikos won’t be entertained by the 30-year-old, who still feels he can push current No.1 Nick Pope and play a ‘bigger part’ over the second half of the season after just one appearance in a Carabao Cup win over Wimbledon so far.

With that in mind, it seems more likely that Martin Dubravka could depart, as the Slovakian is 35, struggling for game time himself and out of contract at the end of the season.

Vlachodimos’ summer arrival was met with raised eyebrows when the £20m fee went public, although it’s clear this was a PSR move to satisfy the needs of both Newcastle and Nottingham Forest at the end of June.

Despite frustrations around his lack of game time, Douglas adds that ‘Newcastle insiders have been impressed by his professionalism and attitude’ feeling his work ethic behind the scenes is setting a good example to other fringe men hoping for more minutes.

It’ll be interesting to see how any goalkeeper ‘shake-up’ pans out, but it looks like Vlachodimos won’t be leaving anytime soon, with Dubravka tipped to leave and Trafford eyed as his potential replacement as another project signing who could eventually replace Pope should the 22-year-old live up to his potential.