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Nick Pope has confirmed his contract extension at Newcastle United.
Pope joined Newcastle from Burnley in 2022 and has gone on to make over 100 appearances, helping the club to win the Carabao Cup, which ended its 70-year domestic trophy drought, and qualify for the Champions League in two of the last three seasons.
The 33-year-old initially penned a four-year contract, which was due to expire at the end of the current season. Sky Sports News reported last week that Pope had taken up the option of a one-year extension, extending his deal until 2027.
Nick Pope confirms Newcastle United contract extension
When asked about extending his stay at St James’ Park, Pope revealed the clause was actually triggered two years ago.
Pope said: “Tough to say because I signed that in July 2023! So I was really happy about it then and yeah, as I say, my contract's up in July 2027. But yeah, of course, I look forward to spending as long as I can here.”
Pope was speaking to the media ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League clash against Benfica at St James’ Park.
“I feel like we're evolving every transfer window, every few months, whether that's players, new bits around the training ground, just ourselves as a team. I think we've evolved and evolved over that time and yeah, it's been great to be a part of it. And you know, you want to be part of it moving forward really.
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“I feel like we've got that first trophy under our belt now and we qualified for the Champions League twice and you're kind of looking to do that back-to-back and can you achieve more and knock out games and win knockout games.
“So yeah, I think I've got some big moments in the last three years and you strive for more of that.”
Nick Pope targets Champions League knockout rounds with Newcastle United
Newcastle were drawn into the Champions League ‘group of death’ with Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund two years ago as they finished bottom.
This time around, the Magpies lost their league phase opener to Barcelona before beating Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0. With Benfica, Athletic Bilbao, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindhoven and PSG still to play, Pope says the ambition is to reach the knockout stages.
Pope said: “Of course, that's something that this football club's not done in a long, long time, so that's a big ambition for the group.
“You know, we've got a top team, top manager, and a top team getting to the later stages of the Champions League and everyone wants to be a part of that.
“So yeah, although we've qualified for the Champions League and when we subbed the pitch last day against Everton and we'd been beat, we'd have snapped our hand off for that, believe you me.
“So yeah, now we're in it, still got a top squad, a bit more experience than we were first time around. We’re looking to take the next level.”
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