LONDON – Newcastle signed England goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley in a deal worth a reported £10 million.
Pope agreed a four-year contract with Eddie Howe’s side after passing a medical on Tyneside.
The 30-year-old, who has eight England caps, established himself as one of his country’s top keepers during 141 league appearances for the Clarets.
Newcastle moved for Pope after Burnley was relegated to the Championship last season.
“Now I’m here, I can’t wait to get started,” Pope said according to AFP.
“The deal has taken a couple of weeks to come to fruition, but it got over the line really quickly and I’m delighted to be here and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it.”
Pope will provide stiff competition for Newcastle’s current first choice keeper Martin Dubravka.
He kept nine Premier League clean sheets last season but could not prevent Burnley from slipping out of the top-flight.
Pope’s swift return to the Premier League improves his chances of making Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the World Cup in Qatar in November.
“Nick is an exceptional Premier League and international level goalkeeper, so I’m very pleased to be adding strong competition to a very important position,” Howe said.
“There has been a lot of interest in him from other clubs this summer, so I’d like to thank our owners and everyone behind the scenes for getting us ahead of the competition.”
Elsewhere, Gareth Bale’s representatives said they have held talks with Cardiff over a potential move to the Championship club after the Wales captain’s departure from Real Madrid.
Bale has been strongly linked with a free transfer to his hometown team following the end of his turbulent nine-year spell in Madrid.
The 32-year-old forward, once the world’s most expensive player, is reported to be considering the pros and cons of joining the Bluebirds before playing for Wales at the World Cup in Qatar in November.
His representatives confirmed to BBC Sport Wales that they are in negotiations with Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman.
Bale, a five-time Champions League winner, has several options on the table with MLS teams, his former club Tottenham and Newcastle all mooted as possible destinations.
But he fuelled speculation that he might prefer Cardiff by saying the level of football he plays before the World Cup will not be a determining factor.
Speaking while on international duty with Wales last week, Bale said: “I don’t really know if the standard makes too much of a difference. A football game is a football game.
“I need time to think what’s the best move for me, my family, my kids, and hopefully we’ll sort that over the summer. I have options.”
Bale, who has family in Cardiff, earned around £600 000 ($736 000) per week at Real and would have to take a significant wage cut to sign for Steve Morison’s side.
But his agent Jonathan Barnett said in a recent interview that “what Gareth does next is not about money”.
The sight of Bale at Cardiff’s training ground led some fans to claim he was about to complete the switch to the Bluebirds.
But Cardiff share the facilities with the Football Association of Wales’ medical staff and it is understood Bale was there to undertake physio work.
Discussion about this post