Now reported an agreement in principle for Martin Dubravka to move to Saudi Pro League – A little unlikely? | OneFootball

Martin Dubravka could be leaving for the Saudi Pro League in January.

That is according to Saudi Arabia media source Arriyadiyah.

They claim that there is already an ‘agreement in principle’ in place for the Newcastle United goalkeeper to join Al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab have this season seen their South Korean international goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu suffer a second cruciate ligament injury, meaning he will be out long-term.

Abdullah Al-Mayouf has taken his place in recent matches ahead of the January 2025 transfer window.

Arriyadiyah say that Al-Shabab have explored the possibility of signing either Keylor Navas or Martin Dubravka to  come in as their number one.

The 38 year old Navas is a a free agent after leaving PSG in the summer but this report indicates that it is Martin Dubravka who Al-Shabab have decided that they want to sign.

As things stand, Martin Dubravka is out of contract at Newcastle United on 30 June 2025 and this reported ‘agreement in principle’ would have made a lot of sense a week ago or so.

However, difficult to see that with Nick Pope’s knee injury, Newcastle United would now consider allowing Martin Dubravka to leave in January.

That is unless maybe they were offering serious money in terms of a transfer fee, which is difficult to believe would be the case.

It was Dubravka and not Vlachodimos who came in for Pope on Saturday, so the Slovakian looks set for a run in the team.

Initial estimates are Nick Pope missing for a month but knee injuries can prove very unpredictable.

For Martin Dubravka as well, every chance that Pope’s injury could be seen as a game changer for him as well. Especially with cup glory a possibility. Back in 2023, Martin Dubravka missed out on playing in the Carabao Cup final having already played in the competition that season when on loan at Man U. Loris Karius instead getting the chance due to Pope’s one match suspension.

The media exclusive from Saudi Arabia could well be true, but potentially, circumstances have now changed things significantly.

They report that final details need to be sorted before final agreement reached on a move to Al-Shabab for Martin Dubravka and an official announcement made of the deal happening.

Quite possible all parties, both clubs and the player himself, were set to agree something.

However, I would think surely this is now very very unlikely to happen, with the injury to Nick Pope.

If Odysseas Vlachodimos had started against Leicester on Saturday then I would have thought the possibility of Martin Dubravka moving in January, whether to the Saudi Pro League or anywhere else, would have been very likely to happen.