OPINION
Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has come in for a bit of criticism this season for a couple of costly errors. However, he undoubtedly remains one of the finest goalkeepers in the Premier League.
It will be a cause of major concern to the club’s supporters, then, to read that the player’s agent has been bandying about talk of him being monitored by Italian champions Juventus as well as other Premier League sides.
“We can confirm that Martin belongs to the Juventus scout department’s list of long-term players,” Pavel Zika is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.
“However, we must mention that [he] is not only monitored by Nedved’s Juventus, but there are also Premier League clubs. Our personal tip with my brother is that Martin stays in England.
“Our effort, but also Newcastle’s endeavour, is to negotiate a new contract at the end of this season, as Martin came to Newcastle as a virtually unknown Czech league player, but quickly became a major player of the entire team and already has an excellent reputation throughout the English league.
“So we are gradually starting to negotiate an improved contract, but of course, on the other hand, we record interest from a number of other clubs in the English league,” he finished.
So while what Zika says about a contract extension being lined up by Newcastle is obviously a positive thing, the fact that he is even mentioning Dubravka in relation to others clubs decidedly is not.
If it is true that the Slovakian international is on Juventus’ radar then that is very bad news for the Magpies. Massimiliano Allegri’s team have seemingly been content to roll with Wojciech Szczesny as first choice after Gianluigi Buffon’s departure, but there’s always the chance that they’ll want another top class ‘keeper to push the mercurial Pole.
Yes, the mention of Juventus will likely have many Newcastle fans hiding behind the sofa. Hopefully Juve don’t make an actual move, though, and Dubravka is allowed to continue his successful stay on Tyneside.
