Personal terms agreed claim as Eddie Howe reveals Newcastle United January wish

Ariyadhiah - a newspaper that boasts one million followers on X - claims Dubravka is set to arrive in Riyadh on January 1. That is despite him currently deputizing for Nick Pope, who is ruled out until the middle of January with a knee issue.

The Slovakian has started the last two matches which has ended in wins over Leicester City and Brentford. He is expected to remain in between the sticks for Saturday’s visit to Ipswich Town.

Magpies’ head coach Eddie Howe revealed after the Brentford victory he is “aware of the links and rumours” currently doing the rounds but doesn’t want to lose any players next month.

Howe said: “I'm sort of aware of the links and the rumours. I'd love to keep the squad together, I don't want to lose anybody, we didn't have the biggest squad already so losing any players would be very difficult for me.

“We do have players returning from injury like Sven [Botman] who will make a big difference and hopefully we'll get Emil Krafth back in the not-too-distant future. Certainly losing players isn't in my thoughts.”

Newcastle are well stocked in the goalkeeping department having signed both Odysseas Vlachodimos, who essentially joined as part of the PSR-forced that took Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest, and John Ruddy last summer.

Dubravka is out of contract at the end of the campaign, hence the uncertainty surrounding his future. January will likely be the last chance for United to command a transfer fee.

The 35-year-old joined the Magpies in January 2018, initially on loan from Sparta Prague, before completing a permanent move the following summer after helping to keep the club in the Premier League.

For the next four seasons, Dubravka established himself as Newcastle’s No.1, however has been second choice since Pope arrived from Burnley two and a half years ago. He has made 166 appearances in total.