No one is safe at Newcastle United - not even Martin Dubravka. Having been Newcastle's first-choice goalkeeper for so long, Dubravka's place is now under threat following the arrival of Nick Pope from Burnley.
For the first time in a long while at Newcastle, two current internationals who have been number ones in their own right in the Premier League for several years will battle it out to be the club's starting goalkeeper. There may be more headline-grabbing arrivals this summer, but that statement is a reminder of how far Newcastle have come.
Howe will settle on who will start between the sticks before the first game of the season to eliminate any doubts that can potentially unnerve a backline, and this is certainly not the first time the Newcastle head coach has had to make such a call. In fact, Artur Boruc had previously been Bournemouth's undisputed number one when Howe signed Asmir Begovic from Chelsea in 2017.
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Begovic ended up starting every Premier League game for the Cherries that season, but it is important to stress that the new arrival was first-choice on merit and Pope will have to wrestle the jersey off Dubravka through his performances in training and in Newcastle's friendlies in the coming weeks. Howe, after all, never makes explicit promises to new signings about game time and even Bruno Guimaraes had to bide his time at first because of the form of his fellow midfielders.
Unlike Bruno, however, Pope won't need an adjustment period and the goalkeeper has been in this sort of a situation on a number of occasions through the years so the England international knows what he has to do to earn his spot. Fabian Otte, who was the assistant goalkeeping coach at Burnley, can 'certainly vouch' for Pope in that respect.
"This is probably one of the biggest strengths that Popey has," Otte told ChronicleLive. "He always had to fight for everything. He got rejected by Ipswich's academy at 16. He had to go through all the leagues. He was sent on loan by Charlton many times and nothing was ever given to him.
"This is why he often comes out as the number one at the end of the day because he knows how to handle these situations and how to handle competition and earn his right to be where he is. This is why I think he's going to be in a very good position at Newcastle.
"He's going to take that challenge on in a very good way, but he's also a very fair sportsman so it's going to be a very healthy and fair competition with Martin Dubravka."
You can see why Howe turned to Pope - in more ways than one. As much as Howe sought intense competition for Dubravka, and someone who would shake up the goalkeeping department, the Newcastle boss did not want to bring in a character who would disrupt the dressing room in a negative way.
Pope certainly won't do that and there is already a mutual respect between the two 'keepers from coming up against each other on a number of occasions. In fact, Dubravka has been among those who have helped Pope to settle in quickly at Newcastle.
Although Dubravka has come across shot-stoppers over the years who have made him collect stray balls or refused to serve him in the warm-up, there will be no danger of that with Pope. Regardless of whether it is Dubravka or Pope who is number one, they will be able to count on their team-mate's support.
As welcoming as Dubavka has been, though, the Slovakia international will be desperate to keep hold of the jersey and Howe hopes Pope's arrival could push his game to new heights after he played his part in Newcastle's turnaround last season. Sometimes, it can be easy to forget that Newcastle conceded 27 goals in the opening 12 league games of the season without Dubravka and the 'keeper went on to make a number of crucial saves, including a remarkable last-minute stop to deny Mohammed Salisu at Southampton back in April.
Those moments have made Dubravka a firm fans' favourite and the veteran could not believe it when Newcastle supporters sang his name that first time. That continued backing, through good times and bad, has certainly not been taken for granted by Dubravka as his agent, David Zika, explained.
"The fans have been so supportive and welcoming to Martin since day one and I can confirm that he really loves them and appreciates all their support," Zika previously told ChronicleLive.
Zika added that Dubravka is an 'extremely strong personality on and off the field' and that character will be required in the coming weeks and months - whatever happens. However, the reality is that for too long, Dubravka has effectively been untroubled in goal. As much as Darlow pushed Dubravka - even keeping his team-mate out of the team for two months in 2021 - that battle had run its course and the 33-year-old needed fresh competition.
There lies the unique challenge of managing a goalkeeping department. Everyone wants to play yet there is, obviously, only one spot on offer for a group of three or four players who train closely together every day.
A bond has to be formed and Dubravka and Pope both have previous in doing just that. In fact, tellingly, Pope remains in touch with all the goalkeepers he worked with at Burnley, including Adam Legzdins. It was Legzdins who challenged Pope and Tom Heaton at Burnley and the Dundee shot-stopper has seen first-hand how his former team-mate is a 'team player'- even if he will be desperate to take Dubravka's place.
"Nick's a confident guy," Legzdins told ChronicleLive. "Nothing is going to faze him and he's going to enjoy the battle.
"I'm sure for each goalkeeper it makes it all the sweeter whoever does get the shirt. They know they will have to overcome another fantastic goalkeeper.
"But Nick won't have come to Newcastle not to play. His ambition and drive will be to play in front of that fantastic crowd."
Pope and Dubravka have experience of holding off challengers over the years but, crucially, the pair have also learned a lot from losing their place, too. The goalkeepers' respective responses to that setback actually offer an insight into how they would handle life on the bench at Newcastle - however much it will hurt.
Dubravka, for instance, was the first-choice at Danish side Esbjerg when youngster Jeppe Hojbjerg replaced him following a series of mistakes in 2016. While Dubravka was understandably disappointed, the shot-stopper did not make life difficult for his young team-mate.
"It was not like he was an idiot to me," Hojbjerg told ChronicleLive. "The first weeks you could see he was not happy and I understood it. I was happy because I got to play, but it was also hard for me because I could see he was disappointed. I was thinking, 'How is he going to react?'
"I had to do the best for myself and just think about myself. I could not change that but Martin didn't react in a bad way. It was natural to be disappointed. He trained and did not just go out and look like he didn't want to be there. He tried to do what he could."
So much so, Niels Frederiksen, Esbjerg's manager at the time, told ChronicleLive that Dubravka 'trained extremely well in that period, really trying to convince me as a coach that it was the wrong decision'.
Pope, meanwhile, has had even more intense competition for club and country over the years. After becoming Burnley's number one after Heaton dislocated his shoulder in 2017, Pope freakishly suffered the same injury himself nearly a year later but managed to bounce back to eventually reclaim his place once more.
There are similarities between that particular battle and the one that is now unfolding at Newcastle. The Magpies stand to be the real winners, particularly when Conor Mitchell, another former Clarets goalkeeper, revealed that 'the levels were so high day in, day out at training at Burnley that it translated into performances on the pitch'.
"Popey is just the sort of down to earth, humble guy who enjoys goalkeeping," Mitchell told ChronicleLive. "There was no real kick off if he wasn't playing or anything like that because he's had times at Burnley when he first came that he was actually third-choice behind Tom Heaton and Paul Robinson.
"It was maybe a frustrating time for him after joining from Charlton, but he stuck in, got his head down and got his chance when Tom got injured and ended up going to the World Cup at the end of that season. He's the type of person that will persevere if he is out of the team and have that respect for the goalkeepers around him."
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