Man Utd make offer to sign Martin Dubravka from Newcastle

Manchester United have made an offer to Newcastle United to sign goalkeeper Martin Dubravka on loan with an option to buy for around £5m, according to Fabrizio Romano.

United boss Erik ten Hag is desperate to strengthen his squad before the transfer window closes on September 1st and another goalkeeper to compete with David De Gea has been identified as a priority.

De Gea has made an unconvincing start to the new Premier League season with his errors against Brentford proving costly and it appears ten Hag is looking to bring in another shot stopper this month.

Man Utd have been linked with Bundesliga pair Kevin Trapp and Yann Sommer recently, but they have now turned their attention to a goalkeeper a little closer to home.

According to Fabrizio Romano, United are in talks with Newcastle to sign Dubravka and have offered to take the 33-year-old on an initial season-long loan.

The Italian reporter says the two clubs are also discussing a potential option to buy clause next summer that would give Man Utd the chance to make the deal permanent for around £5m.

Shrewd move

Dubravka has been with Newcastle since joining the club from Sparta Prague in 2018 and has made 130 appearances for the Magpies over the past four years.

However, the 6ft 2in stopper has lost his first team place this season following the arrival of Nick Pope from Burnley. As No.2, Dubravka was expected to feature in Newcastle’s Carabao Cup second round win over Tranmere on Wednesday night but he was left out of the squad due to ‘illness’.

It’s now become apparent that the Slovakian international was probably left out because of Manchester United’s approach, and the player could now be heading to Old Trafford if a deal can be agreed between the two clubs.

Dubravka would be solid competition for De Gea as he’s been a decent performer during his time at St James’ Park and he has plenty of Premier League experience.

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A loan move would allow Man Utd to save their transfer funds to strengthen other areas of the squad with ten Hag reportedly in the market for a forward and another right-back.