Newcastle United have let their goalkeeper Freddie Woodman leave on loan to Aberdeen until the end of the season. According to BBC Sport, Aberdeen have signed the Magpies goalkeeper and forward Sam Cosgrove from Carlisle United. The 20-year-old will make a switch to the Pittodrie Stadium on a temporary basis for the remainder of the campaign.
Woodman was selected to start on the bench for the Tyneside club on Wednesday night in Newcastle United’s 1-1 draw with Burnley at St. James Park. He has previously spent time on loan at Kilmarnock last season before going on to win the Under-20 World Cup with England. The English youngster will now compete with Danny Rogers to start in goal at Pittodrie after Joe Lewis fell victim to an injury recently. The Dons’ first choice keeper suffered damage to his knee in their bitter loss to Rangers earlier in January and is expected to be out of action for up to three months.
After securing the services of Woodman, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was quoted to have said: “I thought he got better and better at Kilmarnock. There were lots of clubs in for Freddie but his commitment and word to us meant a lot and we’re looking forward to getting him with us.”
Newcastle United are currently in 14th place in the Premier League standings with a tally of 24 points in 25 league matches. Benitez’s side still finds themselves a point above the drop zone and are in real danger of suffering the agony of being relegated to the Skybet Championship at the end of the campaign. The Magpies need to pick up some crucial victories in the coming weeks to try and avoid getting themselves involved in a relegation dogfight going into the second half of the season.
The departure of Woodman might not be a big loss for Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez with both Karl Darlow and Rob Elliot ahead of him in the pecking order at the Tyneside club this term. The club can definitely benefit if the young goalkeeper can find some regular game time at Aberdeen so that he can come back as a better player ahead of the next campaign.
The 20-year-old has the potential to be a regular starter for the Magpies for years to come but for now, he is still not ready and a loan spell away at Aberdeen could do his career a world of good. Only time will tell what lies ahead in the future of Woodman and if his loan spell in the Scottish Premiership will turn out to be a success or a bust.
