Leeds United are “moving forward” in discussions to bring Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow to the Championship, according to reliable journalist Phil Hay.
Is Karl Darlow leaving Newcastle United?
The Magpies shot-stopper has been a long-term servant in the northeast since moving there all the way back in 2014, but he’s never been able to nail down a regular spot having carried out two loan spells, the first at Nottingham Forest and most recently at Hull City during the second half of last season where he made 12 second-tier starts.
Despite still having two years remaining on his contract with Eddie Howe’s side, the 32-year-old is behind the likes of Nick Pope, Martin Dubravka and Loris Karius in the pecking order so he’ll have to complete a move elsewhere should he want to get more minutes under his belt, and a potential destination is Elland Road.
Football League World previously reported that the Whites are long-term admirers of the Northampton-born talent but currently didn’t view him as a priority target between the sticks, though it appears that’s not in fact the case.
Sky Sports earlier this month revealed that the Yorkshire outfit and Bournemouth had both held talks to discuss a deal, but with the Cherries now soon set to confirm the arrival of Inter Milan’s Andrei Radu, Daniel Farke’s team have leapfrogged into pole position to secure his services.
Are Leeds signing Karl Darlow?
Taking to Twitter, Hay revealed that Leeds are advancing in negotiations with a switch for Darlow, though it’s currently unknown as to whether the deal would be on a temporary or permanent basis. He wrote:
“Karl Darlow to Leeds United now on the cards. Talks moving forward. GK the focus for Leeds after Ampadu signing last week.”
Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has since claimed that the goalkeeper is expected to travel back to the UK to undergo a medical ahead of his proposed move to LS11.
Leeds will be aware that Darlow is 32 years of age so isn’t getting any younger should they be looking for a long-term signing, but having been hailed an “awesome” player by football reporter Matt Murray, he still possesses plenty of qualities to be a fantastic acquisition for the 49ers.
The Unique Sports Group client kept five clean sheets from 12 Championship matches during his time at Hull and made 34 saves from 48 shots on target against, giving him a success rate of 75%, via FBRef, which is significantly higher than Joel Robles (66.7%) and Illan Meslier (59.5%) achieved last season.
Newcastle’s 6 foot 2 colossus, who pockets £30k-per-week, also has an extremely strong range of passing having completed 99.5% of his short attempts and 97.2% of his medium distance tries whilst on loan during the previous campaign, so has a great eye for picking the perfect pass to his outfield teammates.
Should Meslier remain at the club beyond the summer, Darlow is likely to be no more than second-choice in the net, but regardless of what position the boss views him in, he would still be a wonderful asset to have in and around the building.
