During another dramatic weekend for Newcastle United in the transfer market, the club completed the signing of Aaron Ramsdale.
Ramsdale has joined Newcastle on loan from Southampton, and the deal contains an option to buy next summer.
Eddie Howe has chased the signing of a new goalkeeper at Newcastle for a while. Indeed, they almost signed James Trafford last summer and went for him again this time around before the 22-year-old rejoined Manchester City instead.
Howe thinks Ramsdale is an “exceptional” goalkeeper and has previously worked with him at Bournemouth.
While Nick Pope has been a brilliant signing for Newcastle since he arrived from Burnley in the summer of 2022, there have been doubts about his ability on the ball.
Still, Pope is set to be backed over the coming weeks.
- Who is Nick Pope? Get to know the Newcastle United No.1 goalkeeper
Nick Pope is still Newcastle United’s No.1 despite Aaron Ramsdale signing
According to The Sun, Pope is set to be handed a chance to keep his starting berth at the start of the Premier League season.
They claim the former Charlton stopper will continue as Newcastle’s No.1 during the opening weeks of the season, albeit the arrival of Ramsdale clearly does put more pressure on him.
It’s added that Newcastle have rebuffed interest from other clubs in Pope, and will back that up by keeping him in the team.
Nick Pope stats compared to Aaron Ramsdale
Howe loves working with Pope at Newcastle and for good reason.
The 33-year-old has largely been brilliant since signing for the club from Burnley, although his distribution skills do leave a lot to be desired.
Last season, the Newcastle stopper boasted a much better save percentage than Ramsdale. He also claimed a higher percentage of crosses faced and conceded fewer penalties.
| 2024/25 Premier League statistics | Aaron Ramsdale | Nick Pope |
| Games | 30 | 28 |
| Goals conceded | 66 | 35 |
| Saves | 188 | 120 |
| Save percentage | 67.6% | 71.7% |
| Clean sheet percentage | 10% | 28.6% |
| Penalties conceded | 5 | 1 |
| Crosses stopped percentage | 5.5% | 10.9% |
| Passes attempted | 1223 | 782 |
| Passes complete | 774 | 575 |
| Pass completion percentage | 63.3% | 73.5% |
Ramsdale did complete over 200 more passes throughout the season, however.
Clearly, it would be unwise to judge Ramsdale solely on his season at Southampton, who were one of the worst teams in Premier League history last time out.
At some point, perhaps Howe will put more focus on Newcastle needing a goalkeeper better with the ball at his feet so they can start to build out from the back more convincingly.
Until then, however, there would appear to be little reason to drop Pope.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
