Newcastle must finally sell their 'wonderful servant'

Tuesday night introduction Newcastle United Fans with a result they will cherish for a very long time.

Objectives from Alexander Isaac And then Anthony Gordon Both sides of the first half saw the Magpies win Arsenal 2-0 in North London in the first leg League Cup Semi-final.

The 6,000 Geordies who packed into the Clock End concluded the night by singing their unique rendition of 'Que Sera, Sera', and although they haven't sealed their place at Wembley yet, he points out Tom Eddy on TwitterOf the previous 31 teams to have won the first leg of a League Cup semi-final away from home, 29 of them have reached the final, suggesting they have a good chance.

It was a particularly emotional night for one Newcastle player in particular, given it was perhaps his 171st and final game for the club.

The Newcastle star is on his way out

As reported Fabrizio Romano on TwitterNewcastle have agreed a deal 'in principle' to sell Martin Dubravka to him Saudi Professional League Youth side.

The White Lions team currently occupies sixth place in the Saudi First Division League and is managed by it Turkish legend Fateh Tarim, while Their band features familiar faces Like Yannick Carrasco, Giacomo Bonaventura, and Wesley Hoedt once did Southampton And the previous one Wolves Winger Daniel Podence.

As he pointed out Simo Frigoli on TwitterThe youth team's first goalkeeper, Kim Seung-gyu, tore his anterior cruciate ligament for the second time in less than a year. This was during the final victory over ArabismThat's why they are on the market this month.

Martin Hardy of The Times He hails Dubravaka as a “fantastic servant” for Newcastle, and stated that the Magpies would receive around £4.5m for his signature, if the deal goes through.

When the Slovak guard reached the northeast of Sparta Prague For £4.3 million in January 2018He made an immediate impact and was a key figure in avoiding relegation.

In the 2019/20 season he was named Newcastle United Player of the Year He was a fan favorite from day one.

With the Toon Army on the cusp of Wembley, it looks like Dubravka will never play in a League Cup final, having been cup-tied in the 2023 final, after playing Two matches on loan To his rival Manchester United earlier in the competition, that is, uniquely, despite his team's loss that day, He received a winners' medal.

Now, he looks set to leave before the Magpies face either of them for sure Liverpool or Tottenham In the March final.

Why now is the time to leave Dúbravka Tyneside

Newcastle They are under pressure to sell players In order to commit to the Premier League Profit and sustainability ruleswith Eddie Howe “The business logic takes over the football logic… We had to (sell players in June)… I think we are still in this situation,” he explained.

As Dubravka is 35 years old, His contract expires in JuneHe's an obvious player to take advantage of.

What makes the timing awkward is the fact that the Slovakian has started every one of Newcastle's matches Last seven matchesAll victories in which he kept a clean sheet five times, while Nick Pope Nursing a Knee ligament problem He struggled at Brentford.

However, the Magpies actually have five senior goalkeepers on their books.

Odysseas Vlachodimos, who has only seen 45 minutes of action so far, arrives from Nottingham Forest For 20 million pounds sterlingwith Elliot Anderson going the other way For 30 million pounds sterlingwith both clubs turning around PSR violations.

They also have top goalkeepers Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy, in emergency situations, but Vlachodimos, who Chris Wu and George Culkin from The Athletic Describing him as 'the £20m goalkeeper he doesn't want', he would be the obvious stand-in for Pope, but how does Greece's number one stopper compare to Dubravka?

As shown in the data above, since the start of the 2022/23 season, Dubravka has been a more reliable goalkeeper than Vlachodimos, despite the fact that the Greek goalkeeper spent the first of these seasons with Benfica, winning the Portuguese Premier League title.

Post-Shot Expected Goals (PSxG) is a metric used to determine how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot.

However, Vlachodimos is not much worse enough that Dúbravka represents a significant loss.

After all, we're only talking about who would be Nick Pope's backup, and given Newcastle seem stuck with Vlachodimos, they could use him more than that. The second half of The UEFA Cup match against AFC Wimbledon in which he has appeared so far.

It will be clear who will wear the gloves in Sunday's FA Cup tie against Bromley at St James' Park.