Newcastle United’s back-up goalkeeper Rob Elliot has emerged as a target for Championship outlet Fulham, according to the Daily Mail.
The Cottagers are in search of potential replacements for Chelsea target Marcus Bettinelli and, with Karl Darlow set to arrive on Tyneside to force the Republic of Ireland international further down the pecking order, they believe Elliot may be interested in a move to Craven Cottage.
The additional lure of playing in his hometown may be enough to convince the 29-year-old that this would be the right move for him.
Following Ben Hamer’s emergence as first choice at Charlton in 2011, Rob Elliot departed the Valley for St James’ Park in search of game time in the Premier League. However, first team football has been hard to come by for the former-Charlton man. In fact, he has only managed a measly 28 appearances in four years at the North-East club.
Previously, Elliot had admitted to being frustrated at the lack of first-team football at Newcastle: “It’s been really tough, I’ve been a bit frustrated, I’ve wanted to play – I don’t want to get the tag of just being a number two keeper. I believe I can play in the Premier League and I want to try and push Tim Krul as much as I can.
“I’ve spoken to Alan Pardew about that, and he knows and he’s fine about that – I’ve got a good relationship with him – but it’s just a case of waiting for my opportunity. Last year was a bit frustrating because I only got a few games.”
He went on to admit to considering his options: “It does cross your mind. You get times when you think, ‘Right, I need to play’ and that’s the thing, the big thing for me.
“I love the club – anyone who has been there knows what an amazing city it is, how fantastic the fans are – but I want to play football. I hope it is at Newcastle, but if it’s not, it’s not. I think after this season [2014/15], depending on how many games I get, I’ll have to look at it and see what happens.”
