Newcastle United will return to Premier League action this weekend with a game against Bournemouth. The Magpies enter the game high on confidence. Their last outing was a 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in their own backyard.
Newcastle United had looked out of sorts in pre-season but Matthias Jaissle has managed to get a tune out of this side at the start of this campaign. The Magpies will be looking to continue building on this momentum.
Standing in their way is a Bournemouth team that has been brilliant in recent seasons but have a new manager in place this time around, and are still searching for their first win of the campaign.
Newcastle United will have their own worries going into the match. A fresh injury has been picked up by one of their players hours before the Bournemouth game.
Newcastle United suffer fresh injury hours before Bournemouth game
According to The Shields Gazette, Ewen Jaouen suffered an ankle injury in training on the eve of the match against Bournemouth. The goalkeeper is set to undergo an MRI scan.
The good news is that the report goes on to state that the injury is not thought to be serious. As a result, the hope is that Jaouen will recover in time to start against Millwall in Newcastle United’s upcoming League Cup fixture.
Of course, it is very likely that he will not be available against Bournemouth today. And that could result in the recall of Nick Pope back into the first-team squad, albeit only as the cover option on the bench.
Most Newcastle United fans would have expected Pope to be gone by now. The English veteran goalkeeper is no longer a part of the first-team plans at St James’ Park. Lukas Hornicek is the new number one, while Jaouen is viewed as the cover option with the long-term potential to become the number one.
Pope could still leave this summer
Naturally, there is no role for Pope. And he was widely expected to leave this summer. Moves to clubs like Ipswich Town and Celtic were touted for a while but never ended up materialising.
That might prove to be a stroke of good luck for Newcastle United. If Jaouen ends up needing to spend any significant time out on the sidelines. Now, let’s see what the MRI results end up saying.
As for Pope, it is still possible that he could end up leaving the club. While the English transfer window is closed, there are quite a few leagues where clubs can still sign players.
It was just yesterday that we saw Leo Shahar complete a move to Portuguese club FC Arouca. He joined them on a season-long loan. So, some options for Pope are still out there.
Of course, he might not be intrigued and may choose to wait till January before trying to find a new home. It remains to be seen how it all plays out.
