Manchester United has been told to take a step for keeper Nick Pope from Newcastle, because there are doubts about whether Andre Onana will be fit for the start of the new season
Manchester United has been encouraged to take a step for keeper Nick Pope in Newcastle in the midst of constant uncertainty about the comeback date of Andre Onana. The No. 1 of United has been set aside for every VoorSeason fixture after a hamstring injury that he picked up last month during the training.
Onana remains optimistic about being ready for the kick-off of the new Premier League campaign, although the Cameroonian can still be excluded. Even if they are suitable, the displays of the 29-year-old remain stuck after a series of expensive blunders last season.
Former United and Wrexham Keeper Ben Foster has now pushed his old side to pursue Pope, insisting that they “scream” for new goalkeeper talent. The 10-Cap England star moved from Burnley to Newcastle for £ 10 million in 2022, although now is confronted with a new rivalry for his place after the Magpies had sealed the arrival of Aaron Ramsdale on loan from Southampton last week.
“Manchester United is definitely screaming for a keeper,” Foster said on his Fozcast -Podcast. “You would do so much worse than Nick Pope. I think it would be a fantastic fit, really.
“If you want to take it to the forward areas as quickly as possible, Nick Pope is your boy and he will stop goals. Onana has this big injury at the start of the preseason and he looks like he only fits that, perhaps only before the start of the season.
“But you don't want that from your keeper. You want him to have four or five pre-season competitions and weeks and weeks of training.
“There were also many questions at the end of last season, thinking that he will probably not be the first choice. Nick Pope will look at this thinking:” Hmm. “”.
Pope has characterized Newcastle in all competitions 95 times, and Leeds United belongs to the clubs that are said to keep the 33-year-old. Nevertheless, the uncertainty whether the magpies would be willing to punish his departure, whereby Eddie Howe was expected to use Ramsdale as competition for Pope rather than his replacement.
United is connected this summer to countless Shot-Stops, including AC Milan's Mike Maignan and Emiliano Martinez. Earlier this summer, the Daily Mail claimed that United even made a daring offer to protect Martinez from Aston Villa, although the outlook on a deal was quickly extinguished.
United boss Ruben Amorim used both Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton during the preseason because of the fitness problems of Onana. Despite the control over the current number one of United, Amorim expressed faith in Onana's capacities last week and apparently rejected speculation that he is looking for new competition.
“I think even when you talk about Andre, you can see the keepers,” said Amorim. “Even Tom is slimmer, he is another keeper. Altay did really good, and Onana gets better, like the other boys, this year.
“I think we are better in every detail, in the organization of the day to day. The food is better, the way we cook, what we eat, how we prepare training.
“I think we are more organized. I think we now have people who help us get better. I am not worried about small things and I was last year.
“Those things help us and help me to think more about watching the game, watching the team. So it's a big help for me. If it's a big help for the technical staff, it's a big help for the players.”