Nick Pope patience could be rewarded with dream move after NUFC exit decision
The England international was told by Matthias Jaissle that he would no longer be considered first choice, and the 34-year-old was given permission to seek a transfer last summer. Rumours of a move to Ipswich Town were rubbished by the Portman Road club while talk of a switch to Leeds United also fizzled out.
And late summer reports of a move to Celtic also fell flat as the Hoops signed Wolverhampton Wanderers man Sam Johnstone on a season long loan. It left Pope without any potential suitors and forced to accept he would be number 3 with Lukas Hornicek and Ewen Jaouen battling it out for the No 1 spot.
But Pope was quickly promoted back to the bench after Frenchman Jaouen injured his ankle in training back in August. Since then, Jaouen's return to fitness was fleeting as he pulled a hamstring in training with the French Under-21 squad.
With Pope used as Newcastle's lead goalkeeper during the lengthy international break, he is expected to take a place on the bench against Coventry City on October 12. However, the stopper's longer-term future lies away from St James' Park and with goalkeeper sharing the same agent as stars such as Elliot Anderson, Jack Grealish and Ivan Toney, he will not be short of options when he becomes a free transfer next summer.
Talk has already started of Pope winning a dream move to a top club with Sky Germany today reporting that Bayern Munich are interested in his signature. German legend Manuel Neuer is set to retire next summer, and Bayern are looking for a quality back-up option for highly-rated Jonas Urbig.
Sky Germany say Pope is on a list of possible targets which also includes Koen Casteels (Al-Qadsiah), Kevin Trapp (Paris FC), Frederik Rønnow (Union Berlin), Lukas Hradecky (AS Monaco), Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid) and Rui Silva (Sporting CP).
Jaissle held crunch talks with Pope just days after taking over when the club completed the transfer of Hornicek from SC Braga. Jaissle, speaking after the 2-1 win over Valencia, said: "I had a talk with Nick. I really appreciate what he did in his career so far.
"He knows exactly the situation right now, and we need to deal with it in the best possible way, but I always appreciate the player and the human being behind."
For now, Pope remains a heartbeat away from the action on Tyneside, but his next move will be intriguing after serving Newcastle well since 2022.
Here at ChronicleLive, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Newcastle United coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest NUFC news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Everything is Black and White podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.