Newcastle United complete deal for former Liverpool man amid delayed announcement

Newcastle United have wrapped up a deal to sign former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius on a free transfer.

Less than a week after the summer window slammed shut, Eddie Howe was forced into the free agent market after an ankle injury to second choice Karl Darlow in training.

Scan results revealed ligament damage, which is set to rule the 31-year-old out for the next few months.

Darlow’s absence left United light of senior goalkeeper with just Nick Pope and Mark Gillespie remaining after Martin Dubravka was loaned to Manchester United.

The Magpies have an option to recall the Slovakian in January, despite the Red Devils having an option to buy Dubravka permanently next summer.

Loris Karius deal is complete - but we wait on official announcement

Rather than promote from the club’s under-23s, Howe was keen to add experience, something that Karius brings after six years at Liverpool and almost 250 career appearances.

The German has ploughed through some very difficult times too, with his well-documented mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final versus Real Madrid his last competitive outing for the Reds.

Karius spent two years on loan at Besiktas and had a spell at Union Berlin before seeing out the final year of his contract at Anfield.

The 29-year-old has been searching for a new club this summer and now joins Newcastle on a short-term contract to cover Darlow as No.2. Pope is Howe’s undisputed first choice.

Newcastle, however, are yet to officially unveil Karius as they pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II following her sad passing on Thursday.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have also adopted a similar stance with the arrival of former Chelsea striker Diego Costa yet to be confirmed.

Who drops out of the 25-man squad?

Howe was required to submit his 25-man squad to the Premier League, one week after the summer transfer deadline.

It is likely Karius was registered in time and submitted as part of the 25-man squad. However, in place of which player is still unknown.

Due to numbers, Howe must omit two players from his squad, one of which will be Emil Krafth after an ACL injury ruled him out for six to nine months.

The other could be either Darlow or midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, who won’t be back in action until after the World Cup due to a hamstring issue.