Nick Pope has already made a huge impact at Newcastle United - but the England international still has 'many years ahead of him'.
That is the view of Billy Mercer, Burnley's former goalkeeping coach, who worked with Pope on a daily basis for nearly six years and even gave Newcastle the inside track on the shot-stopper last summer. Eddie Howe and assistant Jason Tindall reached out to their former colleague after working alongside Mercer during their spell at Burnley more than a decade ago and the pair, clearly, valued his opinion.
Given what a good servant Martin Dubravka had been for Newcastle, it did not appear that the Magpies necessarily needed a new number one but Howe's ruthless call has paid off handsomely. Pope has not only given Newcastle a new dimension at the back with his ability to rush off his goal-line and sweep up; the calm Magpies shot-stopper has also kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League since his £10m move.
