'Excellent' - Newcastle United training ground claim as £20m man in line for rare appearance

Essentially used as a pawn in the fight to comply with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), the Magpies sold Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35million and agreed to sign Vlachodimos in return for a reported £20m.

It was needs must as United successfully avoided breaching PSR and an evitable points deduction. Anderson has gone to star at high-flying Forest. Vlachodimos, however, has featured just once for Eddie Howe’s side.

Following a first-half injury to Martin Dubravka in the Carabao Cup third round tie against AFC Wimbledon in October, the Greek international played the second interval and kept a clean sheet as Newcastle won 1-0.

At a time when number one goalkeeper Nick Pope has been sidelined with a knee injury, Howe has turned to Dubravka, whose seven outings have brought seven victories and five clean sheets.

The Slovakian is out of contract in the summer and has a lucrative offer to join Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab this month. Dubravka is understandably keen on the move but United have held talks in an attempt to keep him.

If Dubravka stays then Vlachodimos will remain third choice. That said, there’s a strong chance he’ll get a run out on Sunday afternoon when Newcastle host Bromley in the third round of the FA Cup.

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Howe is expected to heavily rotate his side, who are feeling the effects of three away wins in eight days at Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. With Pope still injured and Dubrvaka deserving of a rest, Vlachodimos is on standby.

When asked about the former Benfica man during his pre-match press conference, Howe said: “He's been excellent behind the scenes. He's a really, lovely lad, a really nice person, he's got a really nice way about him, very smiley, happy. But you can see he's driven and he's a vastly experienced goalkeeper, so I think he's added a lot to the training group.

“He's been actively involved in all the training that we've done and he's become a really well-liked member of the team, well-liked member of the goalkeeping team, but also the first team. So he's been excellent with his conduct around the building.”