Newcastle United are enjoying plenty of success at the moment, but one "excellent" fan favourite has been urged to "find a new club" while on international duty this week.
Newcastle form and fixtures
The Magpies may have made a disappointing start to their Premier League season in 2023/24, in what was an admittedly a tough run of games, but they have overcome that blip in highly impressive fashion.
A legendary 4-1 win at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and impressive victories against Sheffield United and Burnley have corrected their form, while they also knocked Manchester City out of the EFL Cup. Next up comes home clashes with Crystal Palace and Dortmund before visits to Wolves and Man United in the league and cup respectively.
This is a formidable Newcastle squad that Eddie Howe has built, with the likes of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento added to the squad during the summer transfer window, and there are important players everywhere you look.
There are some individuals who aren't earning as much game time as they would like, however, which could lead to them looking for a move away in the near future, potentially when the January transfer window opens.
One of those is Martin Dubravka, who has had to accept that he is now very much playing second fiddle to Nick Pope between the sticks.
Newcastle transfer news – Martin Dubvraka
Speaking to Sport24.sk [via Sport Witness], former Slovakia attacker Robert Vittek has urged Newcastle goalkeeper Dubravka to leave Newcastle, as he looks to enjoy more regular football elsewhere:
“With his performance against Portugal, he certainly caught the attention of several interesting clubs. If he doesn’t get an opportunity at Newcastle, I wish him to find a club in January where he will play regularly.
In truth, it makes complete sense for Dubravka to look for a fresh challenger sooner rather than later, having already spent a spell on loan at Manchester United last season.
The 34-year-old's squad status seems unlikely to change moving forward so Dubravka leaving Newcastle would still be the right outcome for all parties moving forward, with Pope such a key man in goal for Magpies.
That's not say that he can't be a success elsewhere, with Dubravka called "excellent" by Tom Heaton, who said of his fellow 'keeper back in 2020:
"I don't think he is underrated at all, actually. He has had an excellent season. He has been good for Newcastle over a long period of time now and and he has been a massive part of their unbeaten run.
"Some of his saves have been excellent, his all round-game has been really impressive. Certainly from my point of view he hasn't been underrated, but whether the wider public don't give him enough credit, possibly."
Dubravka's stats speak for themselves in his career, with a tally 34 caps for Slovakia coming his way, and while allowing him a route out of the club would be the right decision by Newcastle, there's no question fans will remember that debut against Man United for a long time.
