Newcastle should sign David De Gea according to Alan Shearer
Newcastle are now reportedly giving serious thought to the signing of former Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea amid concerns that stand-in Martin Dubravka is not up to the required standards and following a big endorsement from legendary striker Alan Shearer.
The Magpies are in a bleak run of form that has seen them lose eight of their last 12 games. The latest of those – a 3-1 setback to struggling Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park on Boxing Day, in which former Newcastle striker Chris Wood scored a hat-trick – saw a small smattering of boos ring out at the final whistle.
That barren run of results, that has seen Newcastle crash out of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, leaves manager Eddie Howe in a ‘precarious position’ and amid growing talk that he may soon face the sack.
There are, of course, very strong mitigating circumstances for Newcastle’s struggles given the major injury crisis that has ravaged their squad and would leave the biggest and best teams in the world game struggling.
Nonetheless, the world of football management is a pretty unforgiving place and it comes as no surprise to see specuation over Howe’s future beginning to circulate in the media.
Howe now faces a critical run of games, with a must-win FA Cup trip to Sunderland sandwiching tough Premier League fixtures away to Liverpool and at home to Manchester City. Defeat in all three would not sit well with their ambitious owners.
However, with the January window soon opening for business, Howe has a chance to bring in fresh blood to give his injury-hit squad a much-needed boost.
Alan Shearer wants Newcastle to sign former Man Utd man
Of those currently sidelined is Nick Pope, the Newcastle goalkeeper who has proved a big success at St James’ Park since his move from Burnley. Having suffered a disclocated shoulder that will sideline the player until March, Howe has been forced to turn to his deputy Martin Dubravka.
However, the Slovakian has conceded 14 goals in the seven games he’s had in the side since coming in to replace Pope.
And while Howe has giving Dubravka his backing, they are now reportedly giving serious thought to offering a deal to vastly-experienced free agent De Gea.
The former Manchester United man remains a free agent after leaving Old Trafford over the summer. And despite links to a number of sides in Spain and Saudi Arabia, he is yet to get himself fixed up.
Now Shearer is backing calls for Newcastle to bring him in and believes his signing would help oversee an upturn in results.
The iconic former Newcastle No 9 also wants Howe to sign a new striker amid recent injury concerns with both Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson.
“I would agree goalkeeper and centre forward would be the two main priorities for me,” Shearer said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“But good luck trying to find a good centre forward that you can bring in for a decent amount of money.”
De Gea an upgrade over Dubravka at Newcastle
When pushed if he would make the move for De Gea if he was in charge at Newcastle, Shearer added: “Yeah, I would.
“I think Newcastle need a goalkeeper, and De Gea is out there. I know the salary would be huge but they wouldn’t have to pay a fee for him.”
Fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp also recently explained that De Gea “would be an upgrade” on Dubravka.
“I would say that bringing in David De Gea for Martin Dubravka would be an upgrade after what he did at Manchester United,” Redknapp said.
He added about Pope: “It’s a nasty injury, and so when you’ve got a goalkeeper of that quality I would do it and not wait as others might move ahead of you. I’m surprised someone hasn’t taken him already to be honest.”
In theory, Howe does not need to wait for the January window to open to sign De Gea, who made 545 appearances for United over a 12-season spell as their No 1 that saw him win five major honours, including the Premier League, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the Europa League.
