Newcastle Poised to Make Goalkeeper's Loan Spell Permanent Following Impressive Run of Form
Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez has hinted that goalkeeper Martin Dubravka could become his first signing of the summer, following a successful loan spell at St. James' Park.
The Spaniard says it will be 'easy' to decide the Slovakian's future, with the club already in possession of an option to make his temporary move from Sparta Prague permanent.
Speaking after the 2-1 defeat to Watford at the weekend, Benitez said, as quoted by the Shields Gazzette: "That's an easy decision. It depends on us. He's a good keeper, and we know how important he is for our team.
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"It was a pity he was exposed too much. I don't like to praise too much the keeper, it means you have been defending all the time. I prefer to talk about the great job of the strikers scoring goals. It was the opposite."
The 29-year-old was heavily involved at Vicarage Road, making a number of key saves including one from the penalty spot from Hornets captain Troy Deeney.
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Dubravka's performance kept the Magpies in the contest, though his outfield teammates were unable to rescue anything from the game, slipping to their third Premier League defeat in a row.
The loanee came in for high praise once again from Newcastle supporters after the game though, with his string of convincing showings between the sticks seemingly impressing Rafa Benitez enough to warrant making his move permanent.
Dubravka will look to impress in his final two outings of the season, as Newcastle first travel to Tottenham on Wednesday night, before ending their campaign at home to Chelsea this weekend.
