Here's an intriguing thought as we approach Newcastle's Wembley defining match: will keeper Martin Dubravka claim a League Cup medal.... with Manchester United?
A much more shuddering prospect is this: will he get a winner's medal while his current team-mates only receive a runners-up gong after an inevitable Newcastle v Man Utd final showdown? Perish the thought but it is possible. That being so, who will he be privately supporting?
Dubravka's only two appearances for the Reds were in the Carabao Cup: a 4–2 win over Aston Villa in the third round followed by a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory over Burnley which put the Red Devils through to the quarter-finals.
Significantly they mean he is cup-tied as far as Newcastle are concerned and therefore he cannot be the bench keeper to Nick Pope. Indeed with Newcastle already out of the FA Cup it all means Dubravka's chances of starting for the Magpies again on his return are extremely slim to nil.
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The rule governing the distribution of medals at the final reads: "In addition to the Cup, the Management Committee shall present 30 souvenirs to the winning Club in the Final Tie and 30 souvenirs to the losing Club. Additional souvenirs may be presented with the consent of the Management Committee but shall be at the cost of the requesting Club."
So if Manchester United want to recognise and reward every player who donned their colours and helped get them make Wembley as well as their staff then Dubravka certainly would be one of them.
By the same token Newcastle should organise a medal for Chris Wood, who scored a crucial goal in the opening round at Tranmere but is now playing for Nottingham Forest. Then there is Karl Darlow, on his way to Hull but a team-mate of Wood on Merseyside.
A precedent has already been set of course, with both Pep Guardiola at Man City and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp both ordering more gongs because they believed that young academy players who turned out in the early rounds should be equally thanked.
Dubravka's loyal service to Newcastle cannot be under estimated. The Slovakian made his debut back in February of 2018 (ironically against Man Utd) and has played 131 times across all competitions.
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However there is no question that Pope is a step up in overall quality and though Martin still has No.1 on the back of his jersey he is no longer that at 34 years of age.
Pope's remarkable consistency sees him standing on the brink of history. Back in the 2008-09 season Edwin van der Sar kept 12 successive clean sheets in all competitions for Manchester United.
Van Der Sar's record has looked unlikely to ever be beaten, and has stood for 14 years, but Pope now has a genuine chance of going past it. He is only two matches away from drawing level with the great Dutchman and two home games this week to do it in: Southampton and West Ham.
Then it's off to Bournemouth to stand alone as the shut out master of all time.
Ironically, two former Magpies might have spoilt Pope's immaculate record. Both netted only for their 'goals' to be chalked off on the intervention of VAR: Alexsandar Mitrovic's double-strike on his Fulham penalty and Adam Armstrong's handball at Southampton.
In the meantime, as we wait for another record to be broken, the two Uniteds of Newcastle and Manchester have to go through the formality of cementing their Wembley date on Sunday February 26.
The Magpies go first in their second leg semi at home on Tuesday night considerably bolstered by a one goal lead having won on the south coast, and must surely make football's holy grail. If they are favourites then 24 hours later Man U are a shoo-in leading Nottingham Forest, painfully poor on the road, by three clear goals.
By the way, I shall have a special guest for my pre-match chat at Pumphrey's in the Bigg Market at 6pm - Malcolm Macdonald, Newcastle United's centre-forward the one and only time they made the league cup final in 1976.
Amid all the euphoria over Wembley, United have been getting on with other business too in their relentless drive for success. They have brokered a deal to bring Everton's 21-year-old winger Anthony Gordon to Tyneside for a right wad of money.
He is a controversial young man splitting fan opinion so what do I think is the best thing he has going for him?
Without a doubt that Eddie Howe and the scouting staff have wanted him so much. Because virtually everything they have touched has turned to gold.
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