Newcastle United man left out of Australia squad 'increasingly close' to joining new club

Loris Karius is close to finding a new club with his Newcastle United contract set to expire at the end of next month.

The former Liverpool goalkeeper has made just two appearances for the Magpies since joining as a free agent in September 2022. Karius played the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United due to Nick Pope being suspended while Martin Dubravka was ineligible. One year later, Karius made his second appearance in a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal in February.

The 30-year-old was a regular in the matchday squad between December and April, offering support to Dubravka whilst Pope recovered from surgery on a dislocated shoulder. However since Pope’s returned at the beginning of this month, Karius has gone without a trace. He wasn’t involved in Newcastle’s remaining four Premier League fixtures and was also left out of the 29-man squad that are currently in Australia.

Karius is almost certain to leave when his contract expires having already expressed his hope of signing for a club in Italy, where his partner Diletta Leotta and daughter are based. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport in March, Karius said: “I want to play more. I would like to sign for an Italian club and I have chosen the agency of Claudio Marchisio to represent me.”

Meanwhile, Diletta also revealed her hope of Karius joining an Italian club after describing Newcastle as “very inconvenient”.

She said: "Loris has people by his side who are working for him. I hope he makes the best choice for his career. I live in Milan and so let's say that close to Milan in terms of comfort would be ideal for us.

“Monza or any other team in Italy. I would be happy if he could come and play in Italy and be close to his family. Newcastle is very inconvenient because there are no direct flights. Neither about Paris nor about Amsterdam."

And it appears the pair are close to getting their wish. According to Italian publication TuttoMercatoWeb, the player is “increasingly closer to Como”. Como, around an hour’s drive from Milan, will play in Serie A for the first time in 21 years next season following their promotion.