Manchester United working on a deal to sign 28-year-old who loves Newcastle United

Woodman, son of former Magpies’ coach and current Bromley manager Andy, swapped South London for Tyneside as a 14-year-old. He then progressed through the club’s academy ranks, making his senior debut in a third round FA Cup tie against Luton Town in January 2018.

Following two seasons on loan at Championship side Swansea City, injuries to Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow saw Woodman start Newcastle’s 2021-22 campaign as their number one but was unable to nail down a regular spot.

Woodman made nine appearances in total, his last coming against Man United when Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 defeat, before ending his 11-year stay by joining Preston North End on a permanent deal in summer 2022.

Three years on and the 28-year-old could be about to make a surprise return to the Premier League. Woodman is out of contract this summer and as per Peter O’Rourke, Manchester United are working on a deal

O’Rourke wrote on X: “Manchester United are working on a deal to sign Preston North End goalkeeper Freddie Woodman on a free transfer to become their No.3 keeper with Tom Heaton expected to leave Old Trafford this summer.”

Freddie Woodman ‘loves’ Newcastle United

Woodman retains a huge amount of love for Newcastle despite moving on to pastures new. In an interview with our sister title Shields Gazette, the under-20s World Cup winner said: “Obviously, I’m really happy to be joining Preston – I think it’s a fantastic club, a club which has got a lot of history.

“But also it’s a sad day when a chapter ends in your career at a club where you went there as a boy, and leave a man. All my family fell in love with the North East, and now we’ve all left.

“I came up here as a 14-year-old boy, and I’m 25 now,” he said. “It’s a long time to spend at one football club, and I can’t thank the club enough for giving me the opportunity to grow as a man firstly.

“In my early days they helped me massively with my education, they helped my family. I couldn’t thank them enough. Obviously, to represent a football club the size of Newcastle has always been an honour. It’s been a pleasure, really.

“I’ve made so many friends there. The people behind the scenes. I could go on forever … Thommo (Ray Thompson) the kit man, Derek (Wright) the physio, Tony (Toward, team administrator), Glenn (Patterson, player liaison officer).

“The people that work there that are from the North East. You rely on these people every single day. Also the players, you know Dummy (Paul Dummett), Sean (Longstaff), I’ve got so many friends that are Geordies up there. It’s definitely going to be a result that I check first when I come in after games.”

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