Newcastle learn extent of Nick Pope injury; Aaron Ramsdale move unlikely in January
- Nick Pope dislocated his shoulder in Newcastle's win against Man Utd on Saturday
- Martin Dubravka set to come in as number one while he recovers
- Newcastle have already been linked to Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale
Newcastle United are unlikely to look at bringing in a new goalkeeper in the January transfer window despite Nick Pope being ruled out for the long-term with a shoulder injury, sources have confirmed to 90min.
Pope was forced off during Newcastle's win 1-0 over Manchester United on Saturday night after he dislocated his shoulder, with backup goalkeeper Martin Dubravka coming on for the final stages of the match.
Newcastle believe Pope will be back this season, but an early return date has been pencilled in for April during the latter stages of the campaign and so a decision will need to be made about their goalkeeping situation in the meantime.
The Magpies have been linked with Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale, but as 90min reported last week, he is seen as a target for the long-term and it's unlikely they will move for him in January.
90min understands Arsenal have little inclination to allow Ramsdale to leave before the summer anyway, even though he is currently second-choice to David Raya.
The Magpies are also well covered in the goalkeeper department. As well as Dubravka, they also have former Liverpool stopper Loris Karius and veteran Mark Gillespie in their ranks.
Speaking after the Man Utd victory, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted that Pope's injury was a 'bad one', but whether an operation would be required will be decided on this week. The 31-year-old is set to see a specialist and the injury will put his Euro 2024 hopes in some doubt having already fallen out of favour with England boss Gareth Southgate.
"It looks bad," Howe told TNT Sports regarding Pope's injury. "It looks like a dislocation. He's done it before and had it operated on and come back successfully.
"But I don't know what the future holds for him, I don't know if he will need an operation or not, but we will get it checked out and fingers crossed he will be back soon.
"It will be a massive blow for us if he is ruled out for any length of time. It looked really innocuous, but that is usually the way and they are normally the more serious ones. You could see he was in distress and it looked like he dislocated his shoulder just diving.
"Martin Dubravka came on in a tricky situation with 10 minutes to go, narrow lead, which is not nice for a goalkeeper, so I have to compliment him for doing so well."
READ THE LATEST NEWS FROM 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS TEAM
feed