Newcastle United he could hardly be in better shape right now.
On Sunday, the Magpies came back from a goal down to beat Bromley 3-1 FA Cupwith Lewis Miley on target, Anthony Gordon converting a penalty and then William Osula sealed their place in the fourth round.
It was the eighth consecutive win for the Magpies, who moved up to fifth Premier Leaguewhich would be enough to secure their return to the Champions League, while Eddie HoweHis side are also on the verge of reaching the final of the EFL Cup.
This is the club’s the longest winning streak as a top club since March 2005, looking for a ninth straight win when Wolves visit St James’ Park on Wednesday, most recent success in 1994.
However, could January also prove to be a busy month off the pitch, with reinforcements possibly on their way to the North East?
Newcastle in the market for a new goalkeeper
According to reports from France via social mediaNewcastle, as well Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelseaeveryone is interested in LOSC Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
It has been mentioned before that Paris Saint Germain want to make Chevalier their first-choice goalkeeper, with manager Luis Enrique unconvinced by Gianluigi Donnarummaalthough les Rouge-et-Bleu will face “stiff competition” from Premier League clubs.
Sources in Spain suggests Lille value their goalkeeper at €40m (around £34m), which could prove excellent value for money, with European football pundit Zach Lowy on Twitter claiming that Chevalier is “the best goalkeeper on the market”.
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Usual first choice Nick Pope has not been presented from December 7 due to suffered a knee injury against Brentford, while Martin Dubravka, who has been substituted in the last eight matches, which he won, is potentially on the way to Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab, with the Magpies looking for cash given the Slovakian has just six months left on his contract.
Next is the strange case of Odysseus Vlachodimos, which he describes Chris Waugh and George Caulkin of the Athletic as he “didn’t want Newcastle’s £20m goalkeeper”, who joined from Nottingham Forest last summer as both clubs avoided PSR points penalties, with Greece number one seeing just 45 minutes of action at club level this season, featured at half-time in the EFL Cup tie against AFC Wimbledon.
However, the Pope is the clear number one when available, so let’s see how England international and Chevalier compare.
|
Lucas Chevalier vs Nick Pope (24/23 & 24/25) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics |
Knight |
Priest |
|
Appearances |
50 |
30 |
|
Minutes |
4,499 |
2,695 |
|
Clean sheets |
22 |
8 |
|
Net Sheet % |
44% |
26.7% |
|
Goals conceded per 90 |
0.96 |
1.24 |
|
It stores |
137 |
95 |
|
Savings % |
76.8% |
71.8% |
|
After the hit xG – conceded a goal |
+7.8 |
+2.4 |
|
% pass completion |
76.7% |
73.9% |
As outlined in the table, since the start of last season, Chevalier has outscored Pope in every metric.
The French has joint-seventh best save percentage of any goalkeeper in all of Europe’s ‘top five’ leagues, while last season, ranked 12th for after shot xG – goals conceded, posting a very impressive +5.7, meaning that, at just 21 years old, he was the youngest player to finish in the top 45 for this metric.
Expected Goals After Shot (PSxG) is a metric used to determine how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot.
Meanwhile, in this season’s Champions League, only Paulo Gazzaniga, Caoimhín Kelleher, Emi Martínez and Łukasz Skorupski rank higher than Chevalier for after shot xG – goals conceded, with the Lille goalkeeper also common-eight for saves and seventh for save % (of goalkeepers who have appeared in all six matches).
In short, Chevalier is a top class goalkeeper and if Newcastle manage to secure his services it would be a major coup.
2025-01-14 19:10:00
