Why Newcastle offering Karl Darlow a new deal makes perfect sense

According to the Chronicle Live, Newcastle United have secured the long-term future of back-up goalkeeper Karl Darlow with a new five-year deal to extend his stay at St. James’ Park until the summer of 2025.

As per the report, Darlow has expressed his delight after putting pen to paper on fresh terms with the Magpies while manager Steve Bruce has also sung praises of the 29-year-old.

Darlow had been in negotiations with the club for a number of months and his new deal certainly comes as a massive boost to Newcastle on the eve of the upcoming 2020-21 Premier League campaign.

Profile

Born in Northampton, Karl Darlow started his youth career at Aston Villa before joining Nottingham Forest’s academy back in 2006. He spent four years in the youth ranks at the City Ground before making his professional debut for the Reds during the 2010-11 campaign.

Darlow eventually established himself as a regular fixture between the sticks for Forest after spending time on loan at Newport County and Wallsall. The 29-year-old completed a move to Newcastle United in the summer of 2014. He featured for the Magpies’ first-team during the 2015-16 season, having spent the previous campaign on loan at his former club.

The towering shot-stopper served as the deputy to Rob Elliot in his first season, making 10 appearances in all competitions as Newcastle suffered relegation from the top-flight. Darlow benefitted from that and went on to keep 13 clean sheets in 34 appearances to guide the Magpies to a triumphant campaign in the Championship.

The 29-year-old made 12 appearances during the 2017-18 season but has fallen completely out of favour following the arrival of Martin Dubravka.

Darlow has failed to make a single league appearance over the past two seasons, although he has played 6 times in the domestic cup games over that period.

Darlow remains valued as a quality back-up goalkeeper

As mentioned earlier, Karl Darlow has only made 6 appearances for the Magpies in all competitions over the past couple of seasons. However, the 29-year-old can’t be faulted for that as his lack of involvement has a lot to do with the excellent form of Dubravka, who has carved out a reputation for himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.

Despite gathering dust on the sidelines in recent times, Darlow remains a decent understudy to Dubravka between the sticks.

In fact, Darlow’s importance to the squad has increased even further following the departure of veteran Rob Elliot earlier this summer. Freddie Woodman is another exciting young talent currently on the club’s books but he has rejoined Swansea City on loan in the Championship.

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Verdict

It’s clear from the above discussion that Newcastle United have pulled off a shrewd piece of business with a new deal for Karl Darlow. The 29-year-old still has several years remaining in his prime and his long-term contract means that the Magpies have their goalkeeping department pretty much sorted for the foreseeable future.