‘Unbelievable’… James Tarkowski says £10m Newcastle player used to leave him speechless in training

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Newcastle United are currently without a player who used to do ‘unbelievable’ things in training.

That is the view of Everton defender James Tarkowski, who has been speaking about his former Burnley teammate Nick Pope on the latest episode of ‘Fozcast – The Ben Foster Podcast’.

Tarkowski and Pope were teammates under Sean Dyche at Burnley, but both left after the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League in 2022.

Despite rumours of a move to Tyneside, Tarkowski took his talents to Everton on a free transfer. As for Pope, he headed to the North East to sign for Newcastle United in a £10million deal.

There was not a huge amount of fanfare when Pope joined the Magpies, with a lot of fans happy with Martin Dubravka in goal.

But Pope quickly established himself as the first choice, winning fans over with some outstanding performances. He was a key factor in Newcastle qualifying for the Champions League last season, and his good form at St James’ Park is no surprise to Tarkowski.

Jame Tarkowski used to be blown away by Nick Pope

Speaking on ‘Fozcast – The Ben Foster Podcast’, Tarkowski has heaped praise on Pope for how good he used to be in training when they were at Burnley together.

“Popey. Creature. Just a big creature,” he said.

“If you spent the day with him you’d just think he is a big creature! Some of the things he used to do in training where unbelievable.

“The amount of times you’d shoot and think goal and then you’d turn away and you’d hear ‘what a save’ and Popey has his big limbs sticking out to the side and saving it.”

Newcastle are seriously missing Nick Pope right now

‘Creature’ is quite the word to describe Pope! It comes just days after Ben Foster called Anthony Gordon a ‘rat’ – but in a nice way.

But Newcastle are currently without their ‘creature’, as Pope is part of the Magpies’ incredibly long injury list.

The 31-year-old underwent shoulder surgery earlier this month after suffering a dislocation during the 1-0 win over Manchester United at St James’ Park. He is now going to miss the next few months.

In his absence, Martin Dubravka is back in between the sticks. He has struggled since returning to the side, leading to speculation that Newcastle could sign a goalkeeper in January.

David De Gea has been heavily linked, but it would be a surprise if the Magpies do sign a stopper next month.