Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow could have left the Magpies during the summer transfer window in search of first team football, had Martin Dubravka not suffered an injury.
Darlow had spent the last two seasons frozen out of Newcastle’s team in the Premier League, with Dubravka starting every single one of the Magpies’ matches in both of the last two campaigns. The Slovakian consistently justified his selection and he made the most saves of anyone in the league last term (premierleague.com).
However, Dubravka suffered a heel injury during pre-season and complications on his recovery mean that he will be out until December, per The Times.
That has presented Darlow with the chance to come into the team and prove his worth, which he has done with a string of impressive performances, making the most saves of anyone in the league so far (premierleague.com).
It has now been revealed that the ‘keeper, whose £25,000-a-week deal is in place until the end of the 2024/25 season (Spotrac), could have left Newcastle this summer because he wanted to get regular game-time elsewhere but those plans were halted by Dubravka’s injury, per Daily Mail.
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Losing Darlow would clearly have been a real blow for the Magpies, with the ‘keeper perhaps a better backup than most people would have realised over the last two seasons when he was not getting any minutes. The former Nottingham Forest man would have been difficult to replace with someone of equal quality, so Bruce will surely be relieved he kept hold of him.
Darlow has excelled when thrust back into the spotlight and is averaging 4.1 saves per game so far this term (Sofascore). Indeed, such form has earned him admiring glances from Gareth Southgate’s England consideration and an international callup is not beyond the realm of possibility.
The ‘keeper will have given Bruce a difficult decision to make when Dubravka returns from injury, but the Slovakian should not simply walk straight back into the starting line-up considering how well Darlow has been doing so far this season.
