Loris Karius made his Newcastle United debut in the Carabao Cup final, and it could end up being his one and only Toon appearance.
Newcastle went into the cup final with Nick Pope suspended and Martin Dubravka cup-tied, meaning Karius came in for his Toon debut after signing for the club in September.
Despite all the fanfare and discussion surrounding the 29-year-old, he actually played pretty well at Wembley. Some pundits did criticise him for Manchester United’s second goal, but he did performed admirably. He made some smart saves, and certainly had no real impact on the result.
After making his Newcastle debut, Karius will likely now disappear. Pope will start against Manchester City on Saturday, and he will be backed up by Dubravka.
Karius’ Toon contract expires in the summer, meaning his immediate future is up in the air.
Loris Karius could stay at Newcastle
On the latest episode of The Athletic’s Pod On The Tyne, reporter Chris Waugh suggested that Karius could earn a contract extension and stay at St James’ Park.
“I think there’s a chance that he [Karius] could stay,” Waugh said.
“It partly depends on what happens with Martin Dubravka. If Darlow also wants to go, they’ve got a decision to make on a few different keepers.
“I think Dubravka will probably get options to be potentially first choice elsewhere, so if he goes, I think it would make sense to keep Loris Karius, even if it is as third choice.”
Keeping Karius would be sensible
Given the debacle of the Carabao Cup final, Newcastle will be a lot more careful with their goalkeepers this summer.
And if Karius is happy to stay on and be third choice, it would make sense to keep him at St James’ Park. There probably wouldn’t be much concern from fans if he was second choice either following his performance at Wembley.
It will largely depend on what happens with Dubravka and Darlow. The former has already left once in search of first-team minutes with a failed loan move to Manchester United, while the latter is currently at Hull City on loan and made his debut last weekend.
Both stoppers will want to be first choice wherever they are, which means they might have to leave Newcastle, as there’s no way they’re going to replace Pope anytime soon.
As for Karius, handing him a new contract to keep him at the club beyond this summer could be a wise decision.
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