Newcastle United are reportingly weighing up a move for free agent David de Gea, with current goalkeeper Nick Pope facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Pope came off during Saturday’s win over Manchester United after sustaining a shoulder injury, and concerningly for the Magpies, his most-likely next step is to undergo surgery.
Pope had been a mainstay in Eddie Howe’s starting XI this season, playing in every Premier League game before going down against the Red Devils. The 31-year-old immediately signalled to the bench to indicate a problem with his shoulder, and he needed to be helped off the pitch by medical staff.
Concerningly for Newcastle, Pope suffered a dislocated shoulder during his time at Burnley and spent five months out of the game between 2018 and 2019. The England international is facing another lengthy lay-off this time around, with Howe believed to be braced for his starting stopper to go under the knife ahead of further check-ups this week.
According to The Daily Mail, bringing in De Gea is one of the options under consideration by senior figures at St James’ Park.
The Spaniard has been a free agent since leaving Man Utd at the end of last season. He was due to sign a new contract at Old Trafford before the club reportedly pulled the plug on his proposed deal and offered him significantly reduced wages instead.
De Gea has been heavily linked to clubs in the Saudi Pro League ever since, but the 33-year-old remains on the market while waiting for the right opportunity to arise.
On Pope’s injury, the Newcastle boss said: “It’s such a strange thing, really, because he’d have made that dive thousands of times.
“It looks like maybe the arm has just kept on going, maybe on the moist floor, and his shoulder has come out of his joint. We’re going to have to seek specialist opinion and then see what happens, but it doesn’t look good.”
