It seems as if Newcastle United are keen on the signing of a new goalkeeper.
Newcastle United, of course, boast a number of goalkeepers right now.
Indeed, the Newcastle United squad contains the likes of Nick Pope, Martin Dubravka, Odysseas Vlachodimos, John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie.
However, Leeds are interested in signing Pope and Dubravka’s contract expires soon. Ruddy and Gillespie never feature in squads, while Vlachodimos looks third choice at best.
As such, Newcastle have targeted Burnley’s James Trafford, although it remains to be seen if they can tempt the Clarets into a sale following their promotion to the Premier League.
Now, reports suggest they are looking at Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel.
Newcastle make contact over move for Gregor Kobel
According to Foot Mercato, Newcastle and Chelsea have both been in contact with the German giants over a prospect of a move.
The 27-year-old’s agent is reportedly set to head to London for talks with English clubs, with an exit from the German giants now seen as likely.
In fact, Dortmund now expect him to leave the club this summer.
Kobel joined Dortmund from Stuttgart in 2021 and he has since reached the Champions League final with them.
Upon signing a new contract in 2023, sporting director Sebastian Kehl said (via the Bundesliga’s official website): “In Dortmund, Gregor has developed into a goalkeeper of world-class calibre who has attracted the interest of many top clubs in Europe.
“We’re proud that we were able to inspire him to continue at BVB.”
Gregor Kobel vs James Trafford stats compared
Trafford obviously isn’t playing in a topflight European league or in the Champions League, it should be said.
Still, his statistics read much more favourably than Kobel. Indeed, Trafford boasts a much better save percentage and clean sheet percentage, while also saving more penalties.
| Metric | Gregor Kobel | James Trafford |
| Save percentage | 65.2% | 84.5% |
| Clean sheet percentage | 17.9% | 65.1% |
| Penalties saved percentage | 0% | 100% |
Much younger than Kobel too, Newcastle would be much better served trying to put all their attention on getting Trafford out of Burnley.
They surely don’t need to upgrade on Pope that desperately…
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