Odysseas Vlachodimos is determined to stay and fight for the No 1 shirt at Newcastle as the Magpies contemplate a shake-up of their goalkeeping department.
It is a big week for Vlachodimos, whose contribution at Newcastle so far is a sole 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup against AFC Wimbledon.
He is Greece’s first-choice goalkeeper and a mainstay in the national team that can top their Nations League group if they avoid defeat to England in Athens on Thursday.
“A showcase” is how some of those with an insight into Vlachodimos’ mindset describe the game to i.
But the intention is to hammer home his case for more chances on Tyneside rather than putting himself in the shop window, with a possible January loan away “not in his thinking”.
Panathinaikos, the club where Vlachodimos spent two years before moving to Benfica in 2018, are among those interested but he is “comfortable” at Newcastle and believes he can play a bigger part in the second half of the season as games stack up around the Christmas period.
About to become a father for the third time, he has established himself as a popular member of the squad even if Eddie Howe – to date – has preferred a more known quantity in Martin Dubravka as his back-up.
Newcastle have five senior goalkeepers on the books at the moment, a situation that feels untenable given their constraints around profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
With what sources describe as “ongoing” interest in James Trafford, Burnley’s England goalkeeper they were keen to sign as a “next-cab-off-the-rank” in the summer, keeping all of them looks unlikely.
i understands Newcastle were prepared to sell Dubravka in the summer, however, and will listen to offers for the 35-year-old in January. His contract expires in 2025 and there’s no prospect of a renewal.
For Vlachodimos the short-term goal is to impress for Greece in games against England and Finland before returning to Tyneside, where he is described as “settled”.
He and his young family have been taken aback by the way he has been received in the new city, despite his lack of playing time.
Widely viewed as a deal that helped Newcastle and Nottingham Forest satisfy PSR restrictions – a fee of £20m has been reliably reported for a transfer that was separate to the one that took Elliot Anderson the other way – Vlachodimos’ stance is that he is desperate for a shot at impressing in the Premier League.
Newcastle insiders have been impressed by his professionalism and attitude, pointing to his work ethic in training as an example to others who find themselves on the fringes of the team.
And Vlachodimos might have reason to feel frustrated. When Newcastle agreed the summer switch with Nottingham Forest, he was told the intention was for him to compete with first choice Nick Pope for the goalkeeper jersey.
It was that promise that convinced a player who had rival interest that he wanted to move to Tyneside, only for bids for Dubravka to fail to materialise.
Newcastle are understood to have offered him the chance to leave last summer but there was no interest then and it’s not in his thinking now, even if the club are considering how to solve a situation largely driven by PSR practicalities.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/L6rJ0CY
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