Reports from the Sun earlier came out that Leeds United and Aston Villa are interested in signing Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow in the January transfer window. Now, Leeds are set to get a massive boost in their pursuit for Darlow as reports from the Telegraph suggest that Villa are close to signing Croatian goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic from Belgian club Gent for £7m and it is pretty much a done deal.
This should give the Whites a clear runway to land Darlow in January and reports earlier came out that even the goalkeeper is keen (The Chronicle) on a move to Elland Road. Darlow currently happens to be the second choice custodian at St. James’ Park as Rafael Benitez has preferred Martin Dubravka over him this season.
The former Sparta Prague goalkeeper was signed this year on loan by the Toon in the January window, and the Slovakian went on to impress Benitez. The club went ahead and signed him permanently in the summer thereby pushing Darlow as the second choice custodian.
The former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper is currently being valued at £4m and Bielsa should definitely look to pull off this move in January. It is expected that the West Yorkshire outfit would sign a goalkeeper in the coming month to bring competition for Bailey Peacock Farrell after injury brought down Jamal Blackman. We believe Darlow can even be a starter over Peacock Farrell and the way he has gone about his business in the Premier League suggests that the 28-year-old would be an upgrade over the young Northern Irish goalkeeper.
The Whites have struggled with their goalkeeping option for quite some time now as even last year, Felix Weidwald’s performance was underwhelming, and he was offloaded from Elland Road in just one season. Peacock Farrell was promoted from the academy and has shown promising signs, but it is clear that he is still a work in progress. The Whites should definitely go after an experienced goalkeeper in the winter transfer period.
Darlow would be the perfect mix of youth and experience, and we believe even the Magpies shouldn’t have any qualms in selling him as they have got two decent back-ups in the form of Freddie Woodman and Rob Elliot. Woodman is an upcoming talent with a big future having won the golden glove at the FIFA u-20 World Cup.
United should definitely look to get this business done, and Darlow could solve their goalkeeping issues for years to come. After the recent piece of development regarding Villa’s interest, they are definitely in the driving seat to pull off this move.
