Leeds United appear to be ahead of Championship rivals Hull City in the race to recruit Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
Darlow was on loan at the MKM Stadium for the second half of the season. Tigers boss Liam Rosenior was eager to make his move permanent after he impressed during his 12 outings.
Rosenior, on the other hand, has disclosed that Hull have been forced to confess defeat, with Newcastle apparently wanting £5 million for the 32-year-old, who has played 52 Premier League games.
“I don’t think Karl is going to join us,” Rosenior told HullLive. “Karl is someone I enjoyed working with; he’s an outstanding goalkeeper, but the price Newcastle is mentioning is something we can’t afford this summer.”
“I’m disappointed, but that’s the nature of football.” My job is to put together the best possible squad for this football club. Can we succeed in the absence of Karl Darlow? So we go ahead and go on.
“We have goals in the goalkeeping department.” Matty Ingram gives me so much confidence that I’m not going to rush out and sign a goalkeeper; instead, we’ll keep working on our goals.
“You make lists and work through your goals.” You have your first, second, and third targets. It’s the same thing that every team goes through, and we’re currently working on those goals.”
Darlow played the first half of Newcastle’s first pre-season friendly against Gateshead on Saturday, but he is still set to depart St James’ Park after nine years with the club.
Bournemouth and Leeds are both interested in Darlow. Middlesbrough have also expressed an interest, but are a doubtful destination at this time.
When asked if one of the club’s goalkeepers might go this summer, Howe replied, “Perhaps.” There are a lot of unknowns. It’s tough to provide clarity because anything can happen at any time. We’re doing an excellent job of training the group.
“We haven’t had Martin [Dubravka] back yet, and we haven’t had Nick back, so although you say we have five, we’ve only been training with three.”
Nick Pope is recovering from hand surgery and should be ready for the start of the Premier League season. Martin Dubravka has yet to report for preseason as of the weekend, but Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie were given fresh one-year contracts last month.
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