Ballon d'Or winner eyes Newcastle United January deal as appointment confirmed

The Magpies will try and persuade Dubravka to stay at St James’ Park, despite him agreeing personal terms with the Saudi Pro League club. Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win at Arsenal was expected to be his last in black and white but the Slovakian is still awaiting the green light.

Dubravka is out-of-contract in the summer so is keen to pursue a lucrative switch to the Middle East. However, the 35-year-old is the current No.1 with Nick Pope sidelined with a knee injury. The England man is on track to return next week.

In Pope’s absence, Dubravka has a 100% win record with five of those seven wins ending in clean sheets. As a result, Newcastle want him to stay but respect the player’s wishes. A final decision will be made in the coming days.

Speaking recently, United boss Eddie Howe told NewcastleWorld: “The situation with Martin is, we would not want him to leave but of course you have to respect and understand the player’s wishes as well in this.

“It’s not as clear-cut as everyone would necessarily have you think. Martin is out-of-contract as well in the summer so that is a different dynamic to add into the mix. It’s all hypothetical.

“Martin is and has been fully committed, I think he’s been outstanding and a brilliant professional to work with. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and I think he’s done really well when you consider he didn’t play a lot of football when coming into the team. Fair to play him and how he’s handled that situation.”

In the meanwhile, Al Shabab have appointed former 2003 Ballon d'Or winner Pavel Nedved as their new sporting director. Dubravka and Nedved share a mutual connection through Czech Republic club Sparta Prague, who Dubravka joined Newcastle from in January 2018.

Dubravka was the club’s number one before Pope joined from Burnley in 2022. He has made 171 appearances in total.