It seems Sean Longstaff isn’t the only Newcastle United player Leeds United are looking to sign this summer.
With a £12m deal thought to be ‘close’ (£10m plus £2m in add-ons), Sky Sports has now revealed that a second Newcastle player is of interest to the newly promoted club.
[Keith Downie](https://x.com/SkySports_Keith/status/1942545318517559417) reports that the Whites are keen to bring in Nick Pope as their new No. 1, with Illan Meslier’s future in doubt after losing his place to former Mag Karl Darlow at the end of their 2024/25 promotion-winning campaign.
However, despite questions over Pope’s position at Newcastle as we remain in talks to sign long-term target James Trafford from Burnley, it seems our current first-choice stopper has no immediate plans to leave.
Downie reveals that Pope ‘wants to stay’ and seemingly fight for his place in Eddie Howe’s side, even if Trafford does make the move.
It’s believed Newcastle are also keen to keep a hold of the 33-year-old, with both the club and Pope looking ahead to a busy season where we’ll return to the Champions League and compete on four fronts.
In an ideal world, Trafford will sign and give us another option between the sticks, with the hope he’ll become a future star much like Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, while having the support of an experienced goalkeeper like Pope.
However, for how long will Pope be happy moving into a back-up role if Trafford arrives and quickly becomes Howe’s number one option?
Whatever happens, we have too many goalkeepers as it is and must move on one of if not both of Martin Dubravka and Odysseas Vlachodimos, especially if Pope is staying and Trafford signing!