Newcastle United latest news: Nick Pope has become an important part of Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United squad.
Nick Pope has revealed he is ‘really proud’ to have been named in Newcastle United’s leadership group. The goalkeeper, who has started all but one of the Magpies’ 13 competitive matches this season, replaced Callum Wilson in the club’s leadership group after his departure from St James’ Park this summer.
Wilson’s exit on a free transfer left a hole that needed to be filled in the club’s leadership group. Jamaal Lascelles, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Jacob Murphy and Bruno Guimaraes made up the group at the beginning of the season, with Pope now added to that six-strong group.
The aim of the leadership group is to set the standards off the pitch and Pope, who has entered his fourth season as a Magpies player, is the latest member to be voted to join that group by his teammates. Howe revealed to the Gazette last month that his squad would vote on a new member of the leadership group, with Pope revealed as the man chosen by his teammates earlier this month.
In his first programme notes as part of that group, Pope wrote: ‘It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of. Anything you get voted in by your fellow players, it’s a proud moment.
‘I’ve been here for three years so I’m really happy they’ve chosen me to represent them as well as the other leaders.
‘The leadership group now has a great mix of positions, players who have been through different clubs, and been at the club for different periods of time. We bring a great blend that can help the squad together.
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‘I’m really proud to be [art of the group and I’m really going to try and carry on the good work the group has already done.
‘I’ve got a lot of experience and I’ve been around the block through a lot of seasons of football. Doing that, you come across a lot of different scenarios that can help the younger players in the squad.’
Nick Pope reveals surprise contract renewal
It was thought that, heading into the season, that Pope was one of a number of players that had less than 12 months left on his contract at St James’ Park. After signing a four-year deal upon joining the club from Burnley back in 2022, it seemed that Pope was entering the final few months of his contract on Tyneside.
However, it was revealed last week that he has signed a one-year extension to that deal, with Pope revealing that he actually put pen to paper on that extension back in 2023. Speaking ahead of their win over Benfica, he said: “Tough to say [how it feels] because I signed that in July 2023,” Pope smiled. “So, I was really happy about it then and I'll say my contract's up in July 2027. But yeah, of course, I look forward to spending as long as I can here.
“The club is sort of ever 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.
“You want to be part of it moving forward, really 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.”
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