Martin Dubravka couldn’t believe Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe dropped him days after convincing him to sign new deal | OneFootball

Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has revealed he was left fuming with manager Eddie Howe during his final weeks at the St James’ Park club.

The Slovakia international left Newcastle for Burnley in the summer after seven years with the Magpies but was close to leaving heading into January 2025.

An offer came in from Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab for Dubravka in December 2024, when he was in the final year of his contract.

While Howe had initially agreed to let Dubravka leave, a knee injury to Newcastle first-choice goalie Nick Pope changed the plans.

The Magpies then agreed that he should wait until after the Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal on January 7 before leaving, and he headed to London with his family having already vacated their house and prepared to head to Saudi.

However, Howe convinced him to stay beyond the winter transfer window, only to drop him from the starting XI a few days after he signed a new deal.

“I said bye to everyone and then I spoke to the gaffer to say goodbye and he told me he was going to give me a call the next day, so I was confused,” Dubravka told The Times.

“I was going to travel to Riyadh the next day. When the gaffer called me he said it doesn’t really make sense to let you go because it’s a semi-final and Nick is not back. I said, ‘You said you would let me go.’ I was still in a hotel in London. I felt ill because of the stress.

“Then Eddie called me and said, ‘No, we can’t let you go now because we need you and we’re going to offer you a new contract.’ I was mentally already in Saudi Arabia. Our home in Newcastle was empty.

“I came back on Friday and played against Bromley [in the FA cup third round] the next day. After the game I spoke with the club and they offered me a new contract. You cannot compare the contract in Saudi financially with the one in Newcastle, but for me it was always Newcastle first and I was delighted to stay.

“Everything was smooth and we signed the deal. It was official on the Thursday, and then on the Saturday Eddie dropped me! I didn’t expect that because I just signed a new deal with Newcastle instead of one which would completely secure my life in Saudi Arabia. I was shocked. We had a conversation after the game, and it was not a nice conversation.”

Dubravka signed a new deal on February 20 and was named on the bench for the home league game against Nottingham Forest three days later, with Pope returning to the starting line-up.

He played just one more game for Newcastle – the FA Cup fifth round against Brighton & Hove Albion in March – before leaving for Burnley at the end of the season.