Karl Darlow has admitted that he was ‘incredibly close’ to joining Middlesbrough over the summer, revealing that he wouldn’t be at NUFC today if a deal for his replacement hadn’t fallen through at the last minute.
Darlow was pretty much a mainstay in the Championship last season, however saw the number one jersey taken off him at the back end of our promotion campaign and the start of our Premier League return.
He’s back between the sticks now, having replaced Rob Elliot in recent weeks, however he’s recently revealed just how different things could have been following Middlesbrough’s £5m bid for him over the summer :
“I was incredibly close to leaving.
At the time I saw it as business when the manager told me. That’s the way to deal with it. That’s how it was explained to me.
“I was pretty close to leaving (for Middlesbrough).
“I hadn’t got as far as my farewells to my team-mates.
“I had met and spoken to their manager (Garry Monk), and it was all ready to go.
Darlow then admitted that Benitez was ‘waiting’ on the signing of ‘another goalkeeper’, but admits that it fell through – with that being the reason he is still at Newcastle today.
He seems thankful it did fall through too, with the 27-year old having returned to the starting 11 over the past few weeks.
“Newcastle were waiting on signing another goalkeeper, and it fell through for another reason.
“Thankfully, it did, because I’m still here and playing in the team again. It’s all good for me.”
Really interesting stuff, making me wonder more than anything who that goalkeeper was that we were waiting to sign?!
Willy Caballero? Pepe Reina? Those were two names heavy linked over the summer.
