One expensive Newcastle star is looking to do his utmost to force through a move away from the club - reports.
Odysseas Vlachodimos is willing to ‘force’ through a permanent move away from Newcastle United to Sevilla this summer.
That’s according to reports in Spain (via Sportwitness), with the La Liga side understood to be making efforts to sign the goalkeeper on a permanent basis. Newcastle paid £20million for Vlachodimos back in 2024 in a move that was widely regarded to be a PSR-avoidance tactic between the Magpies and Nottingham Forest, who subsequently signed Elliot Anderson for £35m.
Despite the huge sum paid for his services, Vlachodimos has made just one senior appearance for Newcastle so far, keeping a clean sheet as Eddie Howe’s side beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0 in the EFL Cup third round back in October 2024.
Sevilla pushing for permanent Vlachodimos move
Vlachodimos joined Sevilla on loan in the summer and has played 21 times across all competitions so far. Although he’s only managed three clean sheets and conceded 32 goals in 20 La Liga outings, the Greece international has averaged 3.2 saves per 90 minutes in the Spanish top flight, helping Los Nervionenses stabilise in 13th place.
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Sevilla are understood to be happy with what they’ve seen from Vlachodimos so far and want to make his move to Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán permanent this summer. However, reports state that Sevilla are only willing to offer €5m for Vlachodimos, while Newcastle want to recoup much more of their massive outlay from just two summers ago. All three parties have now entered negotiations to try and find a solution. And the 31-year-old - who was born in Stuttgart but has 51 senior caps to his name for Greece - is thought to be ‘willing to play his part’ to make sure he remains in southern Spain beyond 2025/26.
What is Newcastle’s current goalkeeper situation?
Newcastle’s willingness to sell may also be dictated by their own goalkeeper situation. Nick Pope is the No.1 at St. James’ Park, but his contract expires this summer, while back-up and rotation option Aaron Ramsdale is only on loan from Southampton. It remains unclear whether or not the latter has done enough to convince Newcastle to trigger his permanent option.
Beyond those two, Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy are only veteran squad members, are not feasible to be Premier league No.1s, and also have expiring contracts this summer. If Howe isn’t able to find a solution between the sticks quickly when the summer transfer window opens, he may well be inclined to keep Vlachodimos around, whether the goalkeeper likes it or not.
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