6ft 3in star agrees Newcastle United deal | OneFootball

Newcastle United chief Paul Mitchell has reportedly agreed a surprise deal with a player who looked on the verge of leaving the club.

According to latest reports, Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has now agreed terms to extend his stay at St James’ Park despite at one point agreeing a move to Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab.

It looked highly likely that Dubravka would leave Newcastle to join Al Shabab, but in the end the deal didn’t materialise, and he’s now set to stay where he is until at least the end of the season.

Although Dubravka isn’t first choice for Eddie Howe’s side anymore, he remains a useful squad player and backup option for the club, so most fans will probably feel this is good news.

Martin Dubravka transfer U-turn following talks

Martin Dubravka applauds the Newcastle fans (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

According to reports, Dubravka’s talks with Mitchell persuaded him to U-turn on his future at Newcastle.

The former Manchester United loanee put in a fine performance in the recent win away to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, in what was expected to be his final game for the north east outfit.

However, Dubravka has been persuaded to stay put, which follows Howe also speaking very positively about him recently.

“I think Martin has been in a difficult situation, like any player that is coming out of contract in the summer,” Howe said earlier this month.

“Always with any player I’ve worked with, there is always that feeling of doubt. He will naturally want some conclusions in his future, whether that’s a new contract with us or whatever the outcome.

“But he’s certainly played very well and I’ve been really pleased with him. I think he has more than played his part in our recent run of fixtures. Against Arsenal I thought he was very good so hopefully, we can come to some sort of agreement with him.”