Newcastle United man set to leave after missing St James' Park lap of honour

As Newcastle United’s players gathered for their end of season lap of honour, there were two notable absences.

The players and staff welcomed their families onto the St James’ Park pitch on Saturday to mark the final home game of the 2023-24 Premier League season. And two players who weren’t present were Callum Wilson and Loris Karius.

Although Wilson’s future remains uncertain as the Magpies’ No.9 enters the final year 12 months of his contract, his absence wasn’t at all mystery.

Indeed, it was confirmed by Eddie Howe that the 32-year-old had been left out of the squad due to feeling unwell. It is hoped he will return for Wednesday’s trip to Manchester United.

However, Newcastle supporters may have seen the last of Karius.

The former Liverpool goalkeeper has made just two appearances for United since arriving as a free agent in September 2022. He played the Carabao Cup final loss to Man United before appearing in a Premier League match away to Arsenal in February.

Despite his limited number of appearances, the German has been a regular in the matchday squad this season, offering support to Martin Dubravka whilst Nick Pope recovered from surgery on a dislocated shoulder.

That was until Pope returned earlier this month, which has saw Karius sit out of the last two matches against Burnley and Brighton & Hove Albion.

With only Man United and Brentford left to play, there’s a strong chance Karius won’t feature in a Newcastle squad again.

The 30-year-old is out-of-contract this summer and has already revealed his aim is to sign 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 recently described 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."