Nick Pope has signalled his desire to prioritise Newcastle United over England this season. With the World Cup in Qatar five months away, the Magpies’ new goalkeeper has a realistic chance of making Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad.
Last month, Pope was called up for the Three Lions setup but served as understudy to Jordan Pickford and Aaron Ramsdale. An impressive start to the campaign on Tyneside could force Southgate to rethink his goalkeeping order.
Newcastle’s new man must first dispatch Martin Dubravka at club level, who has been the undisputed number one since arriving at St James’ Park in 2018. Eddie Howe has two Premier League quality shot-stoppers to call upon - giving him a selection dilemma ahead of the new season.
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Pope was quick to play down England talk when asked about his World Cup ambitions, preferring to focus on making the number one jersey his own at Newcastle. Speaking to NUFC TV, he said: “I think England is (one of) those things that comes around in spells, as it does, three or four times a year.
“For myself, I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running here, meeting the lads, getting settled in and being a part of this football club. That is more important to me at the minute and England is something that (will) look after itself if you're doing the right things for your club. That's how I look at it.”
The prospect of playing under Howe also appealed to the 30-year-old after the Magpies’ dramatic turnaround last season. Newcastle were second bottom and winless when the former Bournemouth manager was appointed but an impressive second half of the campaign saw the club finish 14 points clear of the drop zone.
“He’s been a top manager for many years,” he added. “(It was an) incredibly difficult job he came into here and turned the season around. To finish with the number of points that we did last year was an unbelievable achievement and something that should be spoken about highly.
“I've seen and played against (Howe’s sides) from afar and like the way he sets his teams up to win football matches.”
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