Nick Pope shared his Newcastle United ‘ambition’ in 2022, he has definitely lived up to it

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Three years ago today, Nick Pope completed a move to Newcastle United following Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League.

It has been a spell full of ups and downs for the 33-year-old, but one many fans would not change for the world.

After joining from a side that had just been relegated, there was naturally some speculation over whether Nick Pope was the right player to sign to help Newcastle United push higher up the Premier League table. His form in the 2022/23 season put a quick end to that.

Three years on and Pope is still Eddie Howe’s first-choice goalkeeper on Tyneside, helping the Magpies win their first trophy in 56 years and earning qualification to the Champions League for a second time in three seasons.

Pope has solidified his legendary status at Newcastle for his heroics over the last three years, even if his form dipped at times during the 2024/25 season. Many will argue that he should be in the argument for Newcastle’s best-ever goalkeeper alongside Shay Given.

With Pope celebrating three years as a Newcastle player, we look back at what the shot-stopper said in his first interview with the club.

• Who is Nick Pope? Get to know the Newcastle United No.1 goalkeeper

Nick Pope believed Newcastle United could achieve big things upon signing in 2022

The 2024/25 campaign is a season that will never be forgotten by Newcastle fans. A cup win and Champions League qualification had many saying that Howe deserves a statue outside St James’ Park.

Very few could have predicted how quickly Newcastle have risen since the takeover in 2021, but it was clear that Pope was up for the challenge from his first interview with the club.

Speaking to Newcastle’s club media in 2022, Pope was asked what he thinks they can achieve with him there.

“We don’t want to settle for anything, we want to push ourselves to see what we can achieve. We’ve got some high-quality players, a high-quality manager and support that’s unmatched. Why limit ourselves to anything?

“It’s important to have that open-mindedness and that ambition to go as far as we can.”

After the announcement, Howe also confirmed that Newcastle beat several other clubs to Pope’s signature, showing their ambition and confidence of landing top players at the time.

Howe told Newcastle’s media: “Nick is an exceptional Premier League and international level goalkeeper, so I’m very pleased to be adding strong competition to a very important position.

“There has been a lot of interest in him from other clubs this summer, so I’d like to thank our owners and everyone behind the scenes for getting us ahead of the competition.

“I’m delighted he is joining us as we prepare for the exciting challenge ahead.”

• READ MORE – The reason why Antonio Cordero chose to join Newcastle United ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona

Nick Pope could leave Newcastle United this season after three years

While Pope was a big part of Newcastle’s success last season, there are rumours that he could leave the Magpies this summer to make room for another goalkeeper.

Newcastle are interested in signing James Trafford from Burnley after his record-breaking season in the Championship, keeping 29 clean sheets. Reports suggest that Newcastle value Trafford at around £30m, whereas Burnley are looking to get closer to £40m for the 22-year-old.

That means that Pope may be moved on to free up room in the goalkeeping department. Leeds are reportedly interested in Pope, who cost Newcastle £10m in 2022, but it remains to be seen if they would get a similar fee for him this summer.

Despite the links, Newcastle are eager to keep Pope and have him compete for the number one spot at St James’ Park. Trafford would undoubtedly benefit from having a player like Pope at the club, so Howe should consider letting a player like Odysseas Vlachodimos go instead.